Sea Hare that lives on sewage?

May 24, 2000
From: Amelia Wong

Hi Bill.
This site is a really informative....
But does it have any information on the Sea Hare that lives off sewage?
I'm no Sea Hare expert and have recently discovered that we have had an invasion around our local beaches of the kind that lives off sewage. I would like to find out more about it as I am giving a speech about them at my school.

Amelia Wong

amelializwong@hotmail.com

Wong, Amelia, 2000 (May 24) Sea Hare that lives on sewage?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2439

Dear Amelia,
Are you by chance from Auckland? Have a look at the message I recently answered from Joel Cayford in Auckland who also was asking about a Sea Hare that lives on sewage. I am not sure how familiar you are with the internet but if you click on any of the coloured and underlined words you will move to a page on the underlined topic.

As you will see from my reply to Joel, most Sea Hares feed on sea weeds. There are a few that feed on blue-green algae which sometimes form a mat on soft sandy or muddy bottoms, but these mats form naturally on unpolluted shores. I know of no species that feeds on sewage bacteria.

There are two ways you could help me answer your question. Firstly you could find out who said that Sea Hares feed on sewage bacteria. It would be interesting to know if they have actually seen them do this or whether they have read it in a scientific article. Secondly, can you send me a photo or even a drawing of the slug so I can possibly identify it for you.

If your question is related to the sewage controversy that Joel talks about, then it is possible that someone has said that Sea Hares eat sewage bacteria through a misunderstanding. Unfortunately misunderstandings sometimes occur when heated debates on environmental matters take place. This is unfortunate because it can lead to the wrong decisions being made.

One interesting silly 'fact' concerning Sea Hares. The Ancient Greeks use to believe that you would die if you touched a Sea Hare. Even the great philosopher Aristotle believed it was true because in those times learned people decided what was true by having long learned arguments. The person judged to have the best and wittiest argument was the winner, facts were seldom, if ever, considered necessary. Using facts and observations to test ideas about the world around us was seldom considered necessary until the 1600s when 'science' developed as a method of understanding our world. The lesson from this is that you shouldn't believe everything you are told.

If you would like to know more about Sea Hares go to the Sea Hare Page.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Rudman, W.B., 2000 (May 24). Comment on Sea Hare that lives on sewage? by Amelia Wong. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2439

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