Florida Keys - Sea Hare Sighting

April 27, 2000
From: Betsy


On Easter Sunday, at Islamorada, Florida Keys, we found ourselves reviving a blob of pulsating matter on the beach left by an ebbing tide as sunrise service broadcast messages of resurrection down the breeze. We've now learned we saved a Sea Hare which did not feel the need to spray us with ink....or had none left to spray after drying out for about an hour or two before we noticed its last sparse pulses and returned it to the sea. It took about an hour for it to take on fluids and return to a recognizable shape, almost manta ray like...and it was swimming in an undulating, almost sea turtle like pattern rising to the surface every few strokes. Then it settled down to a grassy patch to process seaweed, sand and small shells through its rubbery cocoa colored body pumping excesses out with water behind it as it ate.

Thought you'd like to see a few pictures of our Easter sea creature, so aptly named "hare" !

Betsy

bb66666666@aol.com

Betsy, 2000 (Apr 27) Florida Keys - Sea Hare Sighting. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2319

Dear Betsy,
It's not every day you can save the Easter Bunny!

I guess your Sea Hare is Aplysia brasiliana which you will see from the messages below yours on this page is quite a well-known swimmer in Florida. I'm afraid that Sea Hares are not good at saving themselves when they get stranded as the tide recedes. If you are interested in knowing more about these animals have a look at the Sea Hare Page.

Thanks for the photos of it swimming.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman.

Note added March 9, 2001: This is A. morio not A. brasiliana. See message. A. morio is an uniform dark brown or black while A. brasiliana has a mottled colour pattern of dark and light brown.

Rudman, W.B., 2000 (Apr 27). Comment on Florida Keys - Sea Hare Sighting by Betsy. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/2319

Factsheet

Aplysia morio

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