Christian Gloor I'm guessing Aplysia parvula.
Found in Lembeh, about 20m deep. It was 3-4mm long.
Anyone care to confirm or correct me?
Thanks
João Pedro Silva Agree. Would love to see some further studies regarding this species to clarify if the Atlantic species is the same as the Indo-Pacific one(s).
Gary Cobb I agree with both of you!!
Christian Gloor Thanks, guys :)
Gary Cobb We members are glad to help!
Vinicius Padula João and Gary, there are some ideas going on this, including some data already in hands. Any material from you areas will be very interesting!
João Pedro Silva Only seen A. parvula here once... and it was only this year.
Karen Rochester I found this one this year as well. Bawley Point NSW in 5m. I think it is Aplysia parvula but happy to be corrected.
Gary Cobb The black parapodia margin says this is also Aplysia parvula
Christian Gloor I'm guessing Aplysia parvula.
Found in Lembeh, about 20m deep. It was 3-4mm long.
Anyone care to confirm or correct me?
Thanks
João Pedro Silva Agree. Would love to see some further studies regarding this species to clarify if the Atlantic species is the same as the Indo-Pacific one(s).
Gary Cobb I agree with both of you!!
Christian Gloor Thanks, guys :)
Gary Cobb We members are glad to help!
Vinicius Padula João and Gary, there are some ideas going on this, including some data already in hands. Any material from you areas will be very interesting!
João Pedro Silva Only seen A. parvula here once... and it was only this year.
Karen Rochester I found this one this year as well. Bawley Point NSW in 5m. I think it is Aplysia parvula but happy to be corrected.
Gary Cobb The black parapodia margin says this is also Aplysia parvula
Patrik Good looks a bit like Aplysia parvula (black mantle margin). Also the size would match the criteria. Great picture for its size by the way. We are constantly struggling with seahare IDs. Wondering ourselves if there are any reference books or experts out there that would elaborate on how to ID seahares?
Erwin Koehler yep, this is Aplysia parvula! Nice to see, that the 6mm specimen has already well developed rhinophores, just like the 4 mm specimen at the gallery of the sea slugs of Hawaii,
http://www.seaslugsofhawaii.com/species/Aplysia-parvula-gallery.html
I have a picture of a 3 mm specimen which looks confusing because of the somehow misplaced eyespots...
http://www.philippine-sea-slugs.com/Aplysiomorpha/Aplysia_parvula_05.htm
Rob Maller And another creature we can't find in any literature... moves like a nudibranch, but is it one?
Chris Barrett Looks similar to a sea hare
Rob Maller Found it in Marsa Nakari housereef, and was some 2cm in length...
Chris Barrett If you look up images of 'Aplysia,' we get some of those species around Britain. Not quite as colourful, but look very similar
Rob Maller Thx Chris, and also this size?
Sarah Bowen I agree - there's one called Striated sea hare (Stylocheilus striatus) in my Collins guide, and though this one is much redder, it looks like the same animal. If you haven't got it, then the "Coral Reef Guide, Red Sea" by Lieske and Myers is pretty good.
Chris Barrett Aplysia of 2cm would be a juvenile. Unless this species is generally smaller, perhaps it's a juvenile, as the Aplysia here grow fairly large (~10-15cm if I remember rightly)
David Kipling Bill Rudman comments that he once collected a specimen of Stylocheilus striatus that was 6.5cm, but this species is usually smaller.
http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/stylstri
João Pedro Silva We have several Aplysia here in Portugal, from the 40cm long and +2kg heavy Aplysia fasciata to the small Aplysia punctata and the even smaller Aplysia parvula, only a few cm long.
Rob Maller Thx all... much appreciated !
David Kipling 2kg?!?!? That's bigger than a 'real' hare! Wow.
João Pedro Silva Not many species on today's dive but loads of Flabellina babai and a first for me: Aplysia parvula. Very small (15mm at most) on Codium.
Patrik Good Please help with ID. I am on lost grounds with seahares other than Aplysia parvula (which I found on the same dive too). Any hints on seahare ID publications would be appreciated. Gold Coast Seaway (Australia); 19/4/2013; nightdive around 1900 hrs; size 11mm; depth 2 metres; 24 degrees water temperature; 3 metres visibility; individual performing a beautiful dance act under water. Not releasing ink. Headed straight for the unidentified red critter during its photo session, taking a bite into one of its tentacles, rolling and leaving with one tentacle chewed off. Critters released next day while still very active.
Gary Cobb I would say this is a juvenile Aplysia sowerbyi. Going by the white blotches.
Gary Cobb As far as I know this order are algae/seaweed eaters
João Pedro Silva That apparent feeding behaviour is really strange.
Patrik Good Thank you, Gary. A juvenile once more it is. :-) Difficult to explain the observed preying behaviour then. A misled juvenile - probably thinking it might be a mushroom.
Patrik Good I think my photos show that it swallowed the tentacle. Both critters seemed unaffected by the encounter.
Patrik Good João Pedro Silva, the Aplysia rolled when it bit a tentacle off. Everything went pretty fast. Can we learn from this obvious mishap, on how Aplysia find their food? They don't seem to smell it, but it might be the motion and maybe shape of the food source that makes them decide to dig in? Just me speculating but happy to know more.
Gary Cobb Correct me if I am wrong but Aplysia eats algae and there very well could have been some on the anemone. I have seen them eating of quite a few different things that weren't their food source.
Patrik Good There was algae in the plate too but the Aplysia headed straight for the red critter biting a tentacle off, then rolling and heading away as if nothing had happened. Maybe this was a passionate kiss thinking the other critter was a mate.
Patrik Good Gold Coast Seaway; 6/2/2013; 16:09 hrs; Aplysia parvula; size 18mm; depth 5 metres; visibility 6 metres; 27 degrees water temperature. First dive after the heavy rains with flooding at the end of January/beginning of February. It had to be expected that most of the branchs have gone again with the influx of fresh water and most of the food sources vanished. It doesn't seem as bad as last year though. Various nudi spawn was still to be found and some weed patches and rotten sponges are still around. It will be interesting to see which branch species are coming back or showing again first, which ones will benefit from the changed underwater scenery. This seahare was a bit of a surprise - the only branch found - relatively big compared to what I normally see. It was crawling on a big shell in the sand and was quite active. I think the white thorn is some sort of a parasite.
IkeBe Ph Good shot mate!
Bernard Picton It is nice to see this Patrik, as Aplysia parvula is supposed to be here in the NE Atlantic, introduced presumably. I've never been convinced that it is really the same species.
Patrik Good Thanks IkeBe Ph. This was a really big one. Normally you can hardly see the black margin and ID them without photo and magnification. @ Bernard Picton - interesting to know. We have got many seahare species at the Seaway in all different sizes. Except for this guy, they are impossible for me to ID and I am convinced that we miss or missidentify some of them. Not having a proper seahare ID guide they are so frustrating to me that I was tempted to take them out and not count them in my Gold Coast Seaway collection at all. I had asked for help regarding literature in this forum before but my post had remained unanswered. Aplysia parvula is abundant at the Seaway at times by the way, meaning that I stop counting and looking at them on a single dive. This time I was glad I saw at least one crawling critter.
Patrik Good Hope this is interesting to some too: The walk of the Sea hares. What I think are an Aplysia parvula (about 50mm) and two mating pairs of Syphonota geographica (about 200mm).
Patrik Good Sorry guys, it is obviously not a Aplysia parvula but a Aplysia sydneyensis. The good news: it is a new species for my dive site.
Patrik Good Actually, what about this species in South East Queensland? Can't find it on www.nudibranch.com.au. Is that a temperate species, like the reference to Sydney suggests?
Gary Cobb Yes it is a temperate species and will probably never be found here!
Frans Ricc Not a nudibranch, it looks like a sea hare... Taken in Lembeh (Indonesia) at about 15 m depth. Any clue on the species name? Thanks
João Pedro SilvaAplysia parvula
Frans Ricc Thank you. Is it a juvenile phase?
João Pedro Silva Don't think so. Aplysia parvula is possibly a complex rather than a single species but it doesn't grow much. Here in the Atlantic is doesn't grow over 25mm (compared to the 400mm of the closely related Aplysia fasciata). Tropical specimen are frequently dark with a light line along the edge of the parapodia.
http://hypselodoris.blogspot.pt/2013/04/aplysia-parvula-guilding-in-morch-1863.html
Patrik Good Gold Coast Seaway; 6/2/2013; 16:09 hrs; Aplysia parvula; size 18mm; depth 5 metres; visibility 6 metres; 27 degrees water temperature. First dive after the heavy rains with flooding at the end of January/beginning of February. It had to be expected that most of the branchs have gone again with the influx of fresh water and most of the food sources vanished. It doesn't seem as bad as last year though. Various nudi spawn was still to be found and some weed patches and rotten sponges are still around. It will be interesting to see which branch species are coming back or showing again first, which ones will benefit from the changed underwater scenery. This seahare was a bit of a surprise - the only branch found - relatively big compared to what I normally see. It was crawling on a big shell in the sand and was quite active. I think the white thorn is some sort of a parasite.
IkeBe Ph Good shot mate!
Bernard Picton It is nice to see this Patrik, as Aplysia parvula is supposed to be here in the NE Atlantic, introduced presumably. I've never been convinced that it is really the same species.
Patrik Good Thanks IkeBe Ph. This was a really big one. Normally you can hardly see the black margin and ID them without photo and magnification. @ Bernard Picton - interesting to know. We have got many seahare species at the Seaway in all different sizes. Except for this guy, they are impossible for me to ID and I am convinced that we miss or missidentify some of them. Not having a proper seahare ID guide they are so frustrating to me that I was tempted to take them out and not count them in my Gold Coast Seaway collection at all. I had asked for help regarding literature in this forum before but my post had remained unanswered. Aplysia parvula is abundant at the Seaway at times by the way, meaning that I stop counting and looking at them on a single dive. This time I was glad I saw at least one crawling critter.
Deb Aston Seaway tonight - Haminoea? Size 12mm, in 4m, water temp 21 degrees
Deb Aston Patrik, this may be 98!
Patrik Good Congrats. We are getting there. We should really investigate the seahares we are finding too. Am pretty sure they are different to what we normally found.
Deb Aston Mine was definately A. pavula
Gary Cobb This looks like Atys sp. nice find guys!
Andrew Harring how was the vis at the seaway last night?
Deb Aston Good viz, nasty current!
Patrik Good Great find. But those shelled ones make our lives harder. Now we can't just look for nudis and we have to collect them in order to ID them. This is just impossible under water with only their shells sticking out normally. Anyhow. Turns out that I have collected three Aplysia parvula too by the way, max. size 13mm. Congrats on No. 98 or 99.
Patrik Good I definitely found this species too at 7:34 pm :-)
Kati Burg I found this small creature with the serious look on its face in Ginablan, Romblon Island.
Gary Cobb I think this is Aplysia parvula Guilding in Morch, 1863
Kati Burg Yes! Looks like. Thanks a lot!
Gary Cobb You're welcome!
Vinicius Padula Yeap. Much probably it is a complex of species. I´m interested to investigate this subject so if anyone is available to collect material it will be welcome.
Patrik Good Hope this is interesting to some too: The walk of the Sea hares. What I think are an Aplysia parvula (about 50mm) and two mating pairs of Syphonota geographica (about 200mm).
Patrik Good Sorry guys, it is obviously not a Aplysia parvula but a Aplysia sydneyensis. The good news: it is a new species for my dive site.
Patrik Good Actually, what about this species in South East Queensland? Can't find it on www.nudibranch.com.au. Is that a temperate species, like the reference to Sydney suggests?
Gary Cobb Yes it is a temperate species and will probably never be found here!
