Aplysia punctata

Erling Svensen Aplysia punctata - and only God and Bernard Picton knows what they are doing.... ;-)

David Kipling The two at the back are tired and the one at the front is giving them piggy-backs.

Peter H van Bragt Possibly they also considered that always the same position are eventually boring???? Or maybe the one in he front is blind and the others are helping him to find food??????

Erling Svensen Ah, I did not know that, David.

Vinicius Padula Copulation ;)

Klas Malmberg Aquatilis Swedish: seriesex!

João Pedro Silva I think it's a bit prude of you to photograph the left side :)

Ian Smith Henry Fitzpatrick, Patrick Fitzgerald and Gerald's at a loose end.

Stefano Scortegagna To Day Aplysia punctata

Scubashooters Dot Net Molto bella Stefano!!!

Stefano Scortegagna Grazie

Fabio Iardino Aplysia Punctata Selce - Croatia Nikon D300s, Micro Nikkor 105mm + Tokina 10-17mm Hugyfot housing 1 x Inon z240 with my home made OPTICAL SNOOT ISO 200 F25 1/250 merged on camera no photoshop

Rui Bernardo very nice!

Luca Anesa spettacolo !

Cédric Penti great lighting on this one !!

Isabella Maffei GREAT shot

Giorgio Cavallaro Uwp Aplysia punctata

Jim Anderson We have updated Scottish Nudibranchs.

Carlo M. Cunha Aplysia punctata its beautiful!

David Kipling I'm assuming this spawn is from Aplysia punctata (would that be correct? No animals in sight but it's late in the season) - ~ 15m in kelp zone on Skokholm. But what's happening with the colours, is this a group of animals all laying spawn together, each a different pastel shade?

Bernard Picton It is Aplysia. Nudibranch spawn changes colour as the eggs develop so that could be true of Aplysia too.

Paula Lightfoot What's the snail on it? A little Tricolia pullus?

David Kipling You mean this?

Paula Lightfoot Your macro is awesome! Now I definitely think it's Tricolia pullus.

David Kipling I'll add it to the form (please Sarah - first dive!).

David Kipling It's very useful being able to zoom in on by-catch in photos, it has to be said ...

David Kipling Another angle (again a crop).

Julia Nunn definately Aplysia puncata

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.

Jaime Romero Aplisias........................?

Jaime Romero Fotos realizadas en inmersiones nocturnas,en Lanzarote en menos de 10m.

João Pedro Silva Two are Aplysia punctata (order Anaspidea) and the other two are Aglaja tricolorata (order Cephalaspidea).

Erling Svensen Anybody that knows these eggs? On a red algae - 10 meters dept, in the harbour of Egersund.

Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat Eggs of Aplysia cf. punctata

Erling Svensen Thanks. Never seen them before.

Bernard Picton You're being cautious there Wilfried, or do you suspect that Aplysia punctata is not a single species in our area? In France you should also have Aplysia fasciata and Aplysia depilans, but in Norway I think just the one Aplysia species. Are the other Aplysia spawn masses any different to these?

Wilfried Bay-Nouailhat Hi Bernard. ALong with the tiny A. parvula, we have 4 Aplysia species in Brittany but I'd prefered be cautious because I didn't check if there were several Aplysia in Norway. Concerning the spawn of the 3 largest ones, all I can say is that more or less compact masses can be seen, maybe depending on the species. As for the colour, eggs of A. depilans and A. fasciata can be white, yellowish or pink or the three colours in the same mass.

Ana Lama Aplysia párvula

João Pedro Silva Aplysia punctata, Ainda há que comparar o ADN das muitas variações de Aplysia parvula mas possuem sempre a orla dos rinóforos, véu oral e parápodes com uma linha muito escura. Também são mais avermelhadas e não ultrapassam os 25mm. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/8637204003/

Naoufal Baliste Eso no es Aplysia parvula es un juvenil

Ana Lama Párvula ?

João Pedro Silva Sim, esta parece-me Aplysia parvula.

João Pedro Silva Mas... há muitas Aplysia punctata que são incrivelmente parecidas: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpsilva1971/7863932962/

Naoufal Baliste si es una Aplysia parvula

Penny Martin What eggs might these be ??

Chris Barrett There were some that looked similar to this on the North Yorkshire coast, which turned out to be sea hare eggs (Aplysia punctata I think they were). Not sure if these are the same though, a second opinion would be good :)

Chris Barrett On a closer look, I don't think they are the same actually

Andy Horton Aeolidia papillosa

Andy Horton http://www.glaucus.org.uk/seaslug1.htm#Aeolidia

Chris Barrett Yes, I think you're right, Dawn

Richard Lord Aeolidia papillosa - I agree with Andy on this.

Douglas Herdson I agree Aeolidia papillosa, though they are often pale pink. Aplysia are more robust and can be bright red to yellow; I tend to think of them as red spaghetti.

João Pedro Silva Aplysia punctata in a mating chain. Unlike nudibranchs, sea hares can mate with more than one individual at the same time. Here there are only 3, the one in the middle mating with both the one in the front (which is acting solely as female) and the one in the back (which is acting solely as male).

Stefano Scortegagna To Day Aplysia punctata

O Gajo Dos Olivais Fernando Trindade

O Gajo Dos Olivais Errata: one Sea hare that is present at portuguese waters: Aplysia punctata.

João Pedro Silva This is probably the most common around here. There are four spp. in the continent plus some others on the islands.

O Gajo Dos Olivais I was amazed by reading on the capacity of releasing ink coming from synced electrical discharges at neuro level.

Carlos Fernández-Cid Ramos Help in the identification please. 25 mm. Galicia. Spain

Rob Maller Looks like Elysia of some kind to me....

Carlos Fernández-Cid Ramos I think it is aplysia parvula or juvenil of aplysia punctata.

Carlos Fernández-Cid Ramos Thanks Rob Maller

João Pedro Silva I'd expect more distinctively dark edges of the parapodia in A. parvula. I'd go with A. punctata.

Carlos Fernández-Cid Ramos There are more ap.punctata at this point. It is translucent . Possibly a juvenil

Terry Griffiths We get them here in England Sea hares apuncata and come in many colours.

Tony Gilbert Its an Aplysia sp., prob. juv Ap.punctata as Terry indicates.

Carlos Fernández-Cid Ramos Thanks. I think is a juvenil of a. punctata

Alexander Niedermair Aplysia depilans ? Selce - Kroatia

Bernard Picton I'm pretty sure this is Aplysia punctata, looks just like our ones in UK.

Sylvie Omnès I think Bernard's id is the one !