Title: Aplysia
triphora - November 19, 2007 05:37 AM (GMT)
Can this aplysiid be IDed from the 3.5mm shell? Majuro in 69 feet of water.
triphora - November 29, 2007 01:56 AM (GMT)
Here's Bill Rudman's response on seaslugforum.net:
Dear David,
The shell in sea hares [see Fact Sheet] is in the process of disappearing and so has becaome a fairly featureless structure. In the genus Aplysia, with few exceptions, it is very difficult to identify shells to the species level. At 3.5 mm in length I suspect your shell is from a juvenile, but to cpmpound thhe problem, juvenile shells are amost impossible to identify to species. The most likely small species your would find is Aplysia parvula and its shell is more elongate in shape and usually quite brown.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Nov 29). Comment on Aplysia shell from Majuro by David Kirsh. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find.cfm?id=21181
Dear David,
The shell in sea hares [see Fact Sheet] is in the process of disappearing and so has becaome a fairly featureless structure. In the genus Aplysia, with few exceptions, it is very difficult to identify shells to the species level. At 3.5 mm in length I suspect your shell is from a juvenile, but to cpmpound thhe problem, juvenile shells are amost impossible to identify to species. The most likely small species your would find is Aplysia parvula and its shell is more elongate in shape and usually quite brown.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman
Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Nov 29). Comment on Aplysia shell from Majuro by David Kirsh. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find.cfm?id=21181