Re: Spanish Dancer (?) congregation in Florida

November 28, 2007
From: Brian Jackson

Concerning message #7150:

I live near Jacksonville on the North East coast of Florida. I was at a local fish store When a man brought in what we could only guess was a Spanish Dancer. We could not find a good picture close to this specimen. The Man was trying to sell it & wouldn't divulge where he had collected it. He also stated there where a lot in the area. what threw us was we couldn't find any reference of them living in our local waters. Well I just found this site & the reference to a Hexabranchus morsomus. I have never seen one here. I have no idea if it is a rare to find them in numbers this far north. We do have a higher number of warm water fish due to very mild winters the past several years. I don't have a picture, It was mottled dark red with whitish spots .

Locality: Jacksonville, tidal I assume, Florida, USA, Atlantic ocean, November 5th 2007, North EAst coast of Florida. Length: about the size of a beercan top. Sorry not up on the Metric system!

Anyway, I was pleased I found this site & wanted to say Thanks.
Best Regards,
Brian Jackson.

jackson.b.w@comcast.net

Jackson, B., 2007 (Nov 28) Re: Spanish Dancer (?) congregation in Florida. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21153

Dear Brian,
Thanks for your interest. The name Spanish Dancer usually refers to the tropical Indo-West Pacific species Hexabranchus sanguineus and was given to it because of its resemblance, when swimming, to the swirling dress of a Spanish Flamenco dancer [see message #17274]. I would be surprised if the local H. morsomus could ever be found in numbers which could be described as swarming, but we still have a lot to learn about these animals.

Without a photo however it is a bit hard to be sure what you had. I am pretty sure the animals in the earlier message you referred to [#7150] were sea hares, but again, without an illustration its hard to know,

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Nov 28). Comment on Re: Spanish Dancer (?) congregation in Florida by Brian Jackson. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/21153

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Aplysia brasiliana

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