Re:Dolabella in Fiji - as food etc

March 17, 1999
From: Veikila Vuki

Thank you Bill for all the information on Dolabella. Sandeep was so thrilled and she is now convinced that its now worth studying Dolabella. I have been trying to convince her for two weeks but without success until you replied to our message and sent us all the references.

Fijian women glean for seahare during very low tide (late afternoon), they say that's when they see a lot of them on the mudflat tidal pools. The Dolabella egg mass are also collected and sold with the viscera. The reason why I asked my student to study Dolabella because part of the animal is discarded and it is quite a waste. In some parts of Fiji, the whole animal is eaten.

Women collect whatever they can find and boil them and cut them into pieces and then they are re-boiled in coconut milk. The viscera is eaten raw and marinated in lemon juice. It is usually mixed marinated together with the egg mass.

I have also been talking to a prawn farmer and he said that seahares (Dolabella) is a pest in his pond. He gets thousands and thousands in his pond and he does not know how to get rid of them

Thank you again Bill. We searched yahoo and came across your name and then got into the seahare forum. It is amazing!!
Many thanks
and we will keep you informed.

Veikila

Vuki_V@usp.ac.fj

Vuki, V., 1999 (Mar 17) Re:Dolabella in Fiji - as food etc. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/687

Dear Veikila,
I'm glad to encourage anyone working on Sea Slugs. Thanks for information on Dolabella as food. I'm not squeamish about eating things from the sea and often nibble on the gonads of a sea urchin or pick off a rock oyster when I'm out collecting, but I must admit the acid glands in their skin and the possibility of nasty unincellular algae in the digestive gland have made me leave Sea Hares out of my diet.

Your comments about the Dolabella in the prawn ponds reminded me of the message from the prawn farmer in Queensland who had huge numbers of another Sea Hare, Bursatella, in his ponds. If you get a chance perhaps you should check whether his Sea Hares are Dolabella or Bursatella.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 1999 (Mar 17). Comment on Re:Dolabella in Fiji - as food etc by Veikila Vuki. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/687

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