Aplysia from Taiwan

April 14, 2001
From: Tony Wright


Hi Bill,
Attached are pictures of a sea hare I collected in Taiwan. Note egg mass in lower photo. Can you give it a name?

Many thanks,
Tony

a.wright@uni-bonn.de

Wright, A.D., 2001 (Apr 14) Aplysia from Taiwan. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4180

Dear Tony,
It looks like Aplysia juliana, which can grow to 30cm in length. Baba (1937) records two species from Japan (Aplysia sibogae Bergh, 1905 and Aplysia kurodai Baba, 1937) both of which could be colour forms of A. juliana. Both were reported to secrete a white fluid from the opaline gland which is usually only obvious in species like A. juliana which do not secrete purple ink as well. Another characteristic of A. juliana is the way the rear part of the foot forms a sucker which can clearly be seen in your upper photo

I would be interested to know whether it produced any Purple ink when you handled it. If so it wasn't A. juliana. Aplysia juliana is very variable in colour, ranging from a uniform black to light brown with whitish patches. I would also be interested in some indication of its size.

Reference:
• Baba, K., (1937) Opisthobranchia of Japan (I). Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Kyushu Imperial University, 5(4): 195-236. (Pl.4)

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Apr 14). Comment on Aplysia from Taiwan by Tony Wright. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4180

Factsheet

Aplysia juliana

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