Spotted Sea Hare Organisms / Invertebrates / Mollusks Aplysia dactylomela    Intertidal zone 3/18/02   Photographed by: Gordon Atkins

Descriptive Information Appearance: "Body is olive drab with black ring-shaped spots. They can grow to be up to 40 cm(15Ó). It resembles a shell-less snail with two distinct flaps(parapodia). The parapodia cover a hump containing a gill." Animal Behavior Location: Intertidal Zone on Sunshine Key Observation time: Appproximately 20 minutes We found the Sea Hare we observed while we were shallow water net fishing. When we put it in a bucket of sea water with a Common Blue Crab(Callinectes sapidus) we caught it made its way over to it instead of avoiding it like we thought it would. We almost expected the Hare to be snapped by the crab but it just hid underneath the body of the crab like it was hiding from us. The crab just sat there and seemed to ignore it. When we startled it, it emitted the purple mucous dye. It permeated the water for a few seconds, then disappeared. Sources: Added information was taken from Petersons Field Guides: Coral Reefs. Copyright 1982 by Houghton Mifflin.