Swimming slugs from North Carolina

June 26, 2001
From: Rhenee Helms


Hey my name is Rhenee Helms I have a salt Water aquarium. Friday I went to visit some friends well one of the guys bring up a rake with a slimy animal on it. I picked it up not knowing what I was looking at it looked like a slug, but it came from the ocean. I went to the boat slip and saw another one swimming around. When it swam it looked like a bat/sting ray with the head of a slug. They quickly got the other one and i took them home and put them into my salt water aquariam. When they are not swimming they are stuck to the side of the tank moving around like a slug. I need to know what kind of animal it is, what to feed it. Also today Sunday the littlest one went into the corner and started laying eggs ... or at least that is what it looks like. I will try to e-mail pictures. I looked all over the site for something that remotely looked like it but i could not find anything .. not even the eggs. I did however feed the big one today it ate particles of some shrimp. They were picked up in a back water inlet near Oak Island, North Carolina [USA]. Any Information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Rhenee Helms

lbc_girl2001@yahoo.com

Helms, R., 2001 (Jun 26) Swimming slugs from North Carolina. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4666

Dear Rhenee,
Your animal is a Sea Hare called Aplysia brasiliana and yes the yellow tangle is its egg mass. For more general information on Sea Hares have a look at the Sea Hares page. For more information on Aplysia brasiliana have a look both above and below your message for previous messages and discussions on this swimming West Atlantic Sea Hare. In case you don't realise, you can move around the Forum by clicking on anything underlined or by using the navigation buttons at the top and bottom of each page.

Concerning feeding your Sea Hares, they are herbivores, feeding mainly on red and green algae. If you want to try keeping them alive in your aquarium then be careful with algae in aquariums, as too much can cause problems. Some people have had success with lightly boiled lettuce.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2001 (Jun 26). Comment on Swimming slugs from North Carolina by Rhenee Helms. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/4666

Factsheet

Aplysia brasiliana

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