Mottled Sea Hare
Aplysia brasiliana
Also known as: Sooty Sea Hare
- Sooty Sea Hare
Overview
Found singly or in pairs, during the day hiding in crevices and under rocks, over mixed rock, sand, and seagrass beds, crawling into tide-pools at night, over coral and rocky reefs, rich in algae growth. When predators come too close they will discharge a purple fluid to warn them off.
Western Atlantic - Canada, USA
Opisthobranchia - Nudibranchs - Sea Slugs meaning "naked gills" are molluscs without a hard shell.
All opisthobranchs are hermaphrodites.
These beautiful slugs are usually brilliantly coloured and this in itself can act as a deterrent against predators. Some sea slugs secrete acid from stinging cells in their tentacles while others secrete acid from cells in their mantle.
Nudibranchs are slow moving, can swim or be propelled along either by muscular contraction or by millions of tiny hairs on the bottom of a fleshy 'foot', they have a voracious appetite and feed with a rasp like tongue.
Nudibranch lay their eggs in a ribbon effect on the sand, in different colours depending on species.
How to identify
Habitat & where to find it
- Range · Western Atlantic
- Country only · 2
Found singly or in pairs, during the day hiding in crevices and under rocks, over mixed rock, sand, and seagrass beds, crawling into tide-pools at night, over coral and rocky reefs, rich in algae growth.
Adult photos 2
Discussion
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Deep dive
Taxonomy
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumMollusca
- classGastropoda
- orderAplysiida
- familyAplysiidae
- genusAplysia
- speciesAplysia brasiliana Rang, 1828
SourcesWoRMSSea Slug Forum
More in the family
Sea Hares (Aplysiidae)




