Juvenile Aplysia californica from Monterey, CA

July 8, 2005
From: Clinton Bauder


Hi Bill,
I was not sure about this one but was thinking a reddish Sea Hare from California is probably Aplysia californica. I asked Dave Behrens who confirms this and said: 
"They are red like that when young. Probably because of juvenile diet".

This guy was on the shallow shale beds in Monterey at a depth of around 10 meters. Length was 3 or 4 cm. Again sorry for the mediocre images - video camers are great in a lot of ways but the resolution is a bit limited. If you look closely there are fine dark markings, especially on the front part of the animal.

Locality: Monterey, California, USA. Depth: 10 meters. Length: 3-4 cm. 03 July 2005. Photographer: Clinton Bauder

Sea Hares were common in Monterey a few years ago but have been rare recently. Not really sure why.

Clinton

gecko1@apple.com

Bauder, C., 2005 (Jul 8) Juvenile Aplysia californica from Monterey, CA. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14221

Dear Clinton,
Nice to see some juvenile photos. Juveniles of quite a few Aplysia species feed on red algae when they first settle out of the plankton, and I see A. californica prefers Laurentia. I noticed in your upper photo that the animal is nosing around some little red algal plants remarkably similar in colour to it. They don't look like a species of Laurentia to me, but I don't think they feed exclusively on that species
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Jul 8). Comment on Juvenile Aplysia californica from Monterey, CA by Clinton Bauder. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14221

Factsheet

Aplysia californica

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