Re: Dog-poisoning Sea Hares

February 26, 2003
From: Gwyneth Ingham

As a vet in Geraldton, Western Australia we are seeing a seasonal influx of large black/brown/yellow invertebrates which I have always thought were nudibranchs or Sea Hares. We are seeing an increasing number of dogs poisoned by eating or licking these creatures. They exhibit neurological signs and pulmonary oedema. By trial and error and contact with staff of the West Australian Mueum we have developed a good treatment protocol which saves most dogs if we see them early enough. Do you have any suggestions as to species i.d., what the toxin might be, treatment?
Gwyneth Ingham

gwyn@wn.com.au

Dear Gwyneth,
As you'll see from the Fact Sheet, and other messages on this page, the culprit is the Sea Hare Aplysia gigantea. Sea Hares are a major group of the opisthobranchs or sea slugs. They are not nudibranchs, which are a quite separate group of opisthobranchs. Although this species swims, it is not the Spanish Dancer, Hexabranchus sanguineus, which is a dorid nudibranch.

The thing that surprises me about this phenomenon is that different species of Sea Hares are common world-wide, and regularly wash up on beaches [see mass mortality page] but only in the Geraldton region do they seem to affect dogs - and apparently some humans as well. This species is also common around Perth and I have heard of no dog-poisonings down there. Sea Hares are known to store chemical compounds from the algae they feed in their skin for protection. I guess it is possible that there is a red algae in the Geraldton area, which produces some particularly nasty chemicals. Considering this phenomenon has been going on for at least a year it would certainly seem to be something worthy of a research project.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2003 (Feb 26). Comment on Re: Dog-poisoning Sea Hares by Gwyneth Ingham. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/9282

Factsheet

Aplysia gigantea

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