The dwarf sea hare or pygmy sea hare, ''Aplysia parvula'', is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

sea hare The order Aplysiida, commonly known as sea hares ('' Aplysia'' species and related genera), are medium-sized to very large opisthobranch gastropod molluscs with a soft internal shell made of protein. These are marine gastropod molluscs in t ...

, a marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

in the family

Aplysiidae Aplysiidae is the only family in the superfamily Aplysioidea, within the clade Anaspidea. These animals are commonly called sea hares because, unlike most sea slugs, they are often quite large, and when they are underwater, their rounded body sha ...

.Rosenberg, G.; Gofas, S. (2012). Aplysia parvula Mørch, 1863. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=138757 on 2012-03-31

Distribution

''Aplysia parvula'' was long seen as a circumtropical sea hare species, but Golestani et al. (2019) restricted the name ''A. parvula'' to the population from tropical waters in the northwest Atlantic, while resurrecting ''A. elongata'', ''A. japonica'', ''A. atromarginata'', and ''A. nigrocincta'' for populations from the Indo-Pacific and describing the new species ''A. ghanimii'' and ''A. hooveri'' for populations from the eastern Pacific. The type locality of ''Aplysia parvula'' is Saint Vincent, Lesser Antilles.

Description

The dwarf sea hare is round-bodied and smooth-skinned with a slender head bearing extensions which resemble rabbit ears. There are wing-like flaps (

parapodia In invertebrates, the term parapodium ( Gr. ''para'', beyond or beside + ''podia'', feet; : parapodia) refers to lateral outgrowths or protrusions from the body. Parapodia are predominantly found in annelids, where they are paired, unjointed late ...

) extending from the body, which is brown to maroon or olive green in colour and may be covered with clusters of white spots.Gosliner T. M. (1987). ''Nudibranchs of Southern Africa'' The maximum recorded length for this animal is 60 mm.Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". '' PLoS ONE'' 5(1): e8776. .

Ecology

The minimum recorded depth for this species is 0.5 m; maximum recorded depth is 30 m. It usually occurs in less than 5 m of water, but is occasionally found in water as deep as 24 m.Zsilavecz G. (2007). ''Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay''. The species is a herbivore, and feeds on different types of algae. Its egg mass is a tangled mass of sticky orange, green or brown strings found under rocks or among algae.

References

* Bebbington A. (1977) ''Aplysiid species from Eastern Australia with notes on the Pacific Ocean Aplysiomorpha (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia)''. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 34: 87–147. * Vine, P. (1986). ''Red Sea Invertebrates.'' Immel Publishing, London. 224 pp * Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). ''European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification''. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213
Branch, G.M. et al. (2002). ''Two Oceans''. 5th impression. David Philip, Cate Town & Johannesburg.
* Burn R. (2006) ''A checklist and bibliography of the Opisthobranchia (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Victoria and the Bass Strait area, south-eastern Australia''. Museum Victoria Science Reports 10:1–42 * Rosenberg, G., F. Moretzsohn, and E. F. García. 2009. ''Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico'', Pp. 579–699 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas.

Distribution

Description

Ecology

References

Further reading