Superfamily Aplysioidea Higher classification Aplysia | Scientific name Aplysia vaccaria Rank Species | |
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Similar Aplysia, Aplysiomorpha, Gastropods, Molluscs, Aplysiidae | ||
Carly and the giant sea hare aplysia vaccaria
Aplysia vaccaria, also known as the black sea hare and California black sea hare, is a species of extremely large sea slug, a marine, opisthobranch, gastropod mollusk in the family Aplysiidae.
Contents
- Carly and the giant sea hare aplysia vaccaria
- Aplysia vaccaria
- Distribution
- Description
- Feeding habits
- References
This is the largest sea slug species.
Aplysia vaccaria
Distribution
This sea hare species lives in the Northeast Pacific Region off California, United States and Baja California, Mexico, including the Gulf of California.
Description
The black sea hare can grow to be very large: the longest recorded specimen measured 99 cm (39 in) when crawling (and thus fully extended), and weighed nearly 14 kg (31 lb).
Unlike Aplysia californica, the body of this species is relatively firm, and the parapodia are joined behind the siphon.
Unlike many other members of the same family and genus, this species is incapable of producing ink.
Feeding habits
All Aplysia species are herbivorous. This species eats brown seaweeds and kelp, which give the animal its typically very dark coloration.
