palatability of sea hares: personal experience

September 9, 1998
From: Patrick Krug, Ph.D.

Continuing my onslaught through this increasingly entertaining page, I thought I would share the only two examples of predation on an aplysiomorph I've encountered. The first was a large Navanax in the california intertidal. I had read that Navanax was perhaps the only thing that eats small Aplysia, but to my surprise what I found once was a large Navanax with its "teeth" firmly sunk in to an enormous adult Aplysia, maybe 10 inches long, clinging for all it was worth flapping in the breeze! I guess that fell under the category of, "If I can pull THIS off, I'll eat like a king!"

The second instance was me. After reading a paper asserting that Aplysia did NOT contain deterrant levels of chemicals in its skin, I put a small one in my mouth. Has anyone else done this? I promise you, it is the single most HORRENDOUS TASTE you can POSSIBLY imagine. Knowing the chemical structures of the halogenated terpenes singeing one's tongue does not add to the experience. I have made 4 other people do this experiment and everyone agreed it was the most hideous thing they'd ever tasted. I dont know WHAT that Navanax was thinking...

pat

Patrick Krug
19 August 1998

pkrug@biology.ucla.edu

Krug, P. Ph.D., 1998 (Sep 9) palatability of sea hares: personal experience. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/215

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