Aplysia
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The genus Aplysia belongs to the family Aplysiidae and is a genus of sea hares, which are a type of sea slug. The general description of these sea hares can be found under the entry about the superfamily Aplysioidea (Sea hares)
Aplysia, when threatened, releases clouds of ink to blind the attacker. Following the lead of Eric R. Kandel, the genus has been studied as a model organism by neurobiologists, because this ink release response is mediated by electrical synapses, which allow several neurons to fire synchronously (Kandel et al., 2000). This quick neural response is necessary for a speedy reaction to danger by the animal.
- Aplysia brasiliana Rang, 1828 : Mottled Sea Hare, Sooty Sea Hare (possibly = Aplysia fasciata)
- *Distribution : West-Atlantic (from New Jersey to Brazil, East-Atlantic, around Ghana)
- *Length : up to 27 cm
- *Color : variable
- Aplysia californica J.G. Cooper, 1863 : California Sea Hare, California Black Sea Hare
- Aplysia cedrocensis Bartsch & Rehder, 1939
- Aplysia cervina Dall and Simpson, 1901
- Aplysia dactylomela Rang, 1828 : Spotted Sea Hare
- *Distribution : Cosmopolitan; tropical and temperate seas.
- *Color : from pale gray to green to dark brown.
- *Description : large black rings on the mantle; good swimmer
- Aplysia depilans Gmelin, 1791
- *Distribution : Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean.
- *Description : thin, yellow inner shell
- Aplysia donca Ev. Marcus and Er. Marcus, 1960
- *Distribution : North America, West-Atlantic
- Aplysia extraordinaria Allan, 1932 (possibly = Aplysia gigantea)
- *Distribution : Western Australia, New Zealand.
- *Length : more than 40 cm
- Aplysia fasciata Poiret, 1798 (possibly = Aplysia brasiliana).
- *Distribution : East Atlantic, West Africa.
- *Length : 40 cm
- *Color : dark brown to black.
- *Description : sometimes a red border to the parapodia and oral tentacles;
- Aplysia geographica . Adams and Reeve, 1850
- Aplysia gigantea
- *Distribution : Western Australia.
- *Length : 60 cm
- *Color : dark brown to black
- *Description : the skin secretions are very distasteful; washed up specimens; have been implicated in the deaths of dogs;
- Aplysia juliana Quoy & Gaimard, 1832 : Walking Sea Hare
- *Distribution : cosmopolitan, in all warm seas.
- *Color : various, from uniform to pale brown.
- *Description : no purple gland, therefore no ink secretions; posterior end of the foot can act as a sucker.
- Aplysia kurodai Baba, 1937
- *Distribution : NW Pacific.
- *Length : 30 cm
- *Color : dark brown to purplish black, dotted with white spots.
- Aplysia morio A. E. Verrill, 1901: Atlantic Black Sea Hare, Sooty Sea Hare
- *Distribution : East Atlantic.
- *Length : 40 cm
- *Color: black to deep brown; no spots;
- Aplysia oculifera Adams & Reeve, 1850
- *Distribution : Indian Ocean; West Pacific.
- *Description : small brown eye-spots.
- Aplysia parvula Guilding in Moerch, 1863 : Pygmy Sea Hare
- *Distribution : worldwide in warm to temperate seas.
- *Length : 6 cm
- *Color : brown to green spots.
- Aplysia punctata Cuvier, 1803 (possibly = Aplysia punctata)
- *Distribution : NE Atlantic.
- *Length : 20 cm
- *Color : very variable
- Aplysia reticulopoda Beeman, 1960 : Net-foot Sea Hare
- Aplysia sagamiana Baba, 1949
- *Distribution : East Australia, Japan;
- Aplysia sibogae Bergh, 1905 (probably = Aplysia juliana)
- Aplysia sydneyensis Sowerby, 1869
- *Distribution : Australia.
- *Length : 15 cm.
- *Description : not clearly defined.
- Aplysia vaccaria Winkler, 1955 : California Black Sea hare (possibly = Aplysia cedrocensis)
- *Distribution : Pacific Coast of California.
- *Length : very big – up to 75 cm
- *Color : black.
- *Description : no purple ink; huge internal shell.
- Aplysia willcoxi Hellprin, 1886
Reference
- Kandel Eric R., Schwartz, J.H., Jessell, T.M. 2000. Principles of Neural Science, 4th ed., p.180. McGraw-Hill, New York.
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