Dolabrifera dolabrifera

Dolabrifera dolabrifera
A live individual of Dolabrifera dolabrifera, head end at the upper left
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Clade: Euopisthobranchia
Clade: Anaspidea
Superfamily: Aplysioidea
Family: Aplysiidae
Genus: Dolabrifera
Species:
D. dolabrifera
Binomial name
Dolabrifera dolabrifera
(Rang, 1828)
Synonyms[2]
  • Aplysia ascifera Rang, 1828
  • Aplysia dolabrifera Cuvier, 1817[1] (nomen nudum)
  • Aplysia oahouensis Souleyet, 1852
  • Dolabrifera ascifera (Rang, 1828)
  • Dolabrifera cuvieri H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854 (unnecessary substitute name for Dolabrifera dolabrifera)
  • Dolabrifera maillardi Deshayes, 1863
  • Dolabrifera nicaraguana Pilsbry, 1896
  • Dolabrifera olivacea Pease, 1860
  • Dolabrifera sowerbyi G.B. Sowerby II, 1868
  • Dolabrifera swiftii Pilsbry, 1896
  • Dolabrifera virens A. E. Verrill, 1901

Dolabrifera dolabrifera is a species of sea hare, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Aplysiidae, the sea hares.[3] Dolabrifera dolabrifera, otherwise known as a Warty Seacat.[4] The animal goes by many names, including the common sea hare.[5] The Hawaiian name for Dolabrifera dolabrifera, is Kualakai.[5]

Description & Biology

The Seacat is a flat sea hare that grows to about 10 cm long.[6] The maximum recorded length is 108 mm.[7] It is commonly spotty green or brown, but it can also be reddish.[6] The animal's back half is typically wider and rounded, it narrows towards the head.[6] Warty Seacats are soft-bodied gastropods, who have lost a protective shell over time.[4] All species of sea hares have ink glands for chemical defense, though Dolabrifera dolabrifera does not release ink.[8]

Distribution

This species is found in warm tropical and subtropical waters.[6]

Habitat

These animals are majorly preyed on in their habitat.[4] The Seacats live in shallow-flat pools that contain large boulders, near-shore.[4] Collections of the hares gather underneath rocks in the intertidal zone.[9] At night the warty Seacats hide themselves in between cracks found in the boulders.[4] During the day, when the tide rises, the Seacats emerge.[4] Due to the varying in color and pattern, it is hard to distinguish them from other species in the habitat.[10] The minimum recorded depth for this species is 0 m; the maximum recorded depth is 3 m.[11]

Life cycle

Dolabrifera dolabrifera egg ribbon 5 days old
Dolabrifera dolabrifera veliger stage embryo, 7 days old, in egg capsule just before hatching
Veliger larva of sea hare Dolabrifera dolabrifera, one day after hatching

References

  1. ^ Cuvier G. L. (1817). La Règne Animal. Volume 2. (Gasteropodes), Volume 4.
  2. ^ Rudman W. B. (2003) "Dolabrifera dolabrifera (Rang, 1828) " Archived May 5, 2005, at the Wayback Machine. SeaSlugForum, accessed 16 September 2011.
  3. ^ Bouchet, P. (2010). Dolabrifera dolabrifera (Rang, 1828). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=224652 on 31 March 2012
  4. ^ a b c d e f Himstead, Alexander; Wright, William G. (2018-03-04). "Precise foraging schedule in an intertidal euopisthobranch mollusk". Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology. 51 (2): 131–141. doi:10.1080/10236244.2018.1505430. ISSN 1023-6244. S2CID 91371208.
  5. ^ a b "Aplysiidae - Marine Invertebrates of Kalaupapa National Historical Park". www.botany.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  6. ^ a b c d jurisdiction=New South Wales; corporateName=Australian Museum; author=Rudman, W. B. (2010-07-15). "The Sea Slug Forum - Dolabrifera dolabrifera". www.seaslugforum.net. Retrieved 2023-02-27. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Welch, John J. (2010-01-19). Joly, Simon (ed.). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLOS ONE. 5 (1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 2808249. PMID 20098740.
  8. ^ Prince, Jeffrey S.; Johnson, Paul Micah (2006-11-01). "Ultrastructural comparison of Aplysia and Dolabrifera ink glands suggests cellular sites of anti-predator protein production and algal pigment processing". Journal of Molluscan Studies. 72 (4): 349–357. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyl017. ISSN 1464-3766.
  9. ^ Hoover, John P. (2010). Hawai'i's sea creatures : a guide to Hawai'i's marine invertebrates. Mutual Pub. ISBN 978-1-56647-220-3. OCLC 1293454919.
  10. ^ Valdés, Ángel; Breslau, Eric; Padula, Vinicius; Schrödl, Michael; Camacho, Yolanda; Malaquias, Manuel António E; Alexander, Jennifer; Bottomley, Morgan; Vital, Xochitl G; Hooker, Yuri; Gosliner, Terrence M (2018-09-01). "Molecular and morphological systematics of Dolabrifera Gray, 1847 (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Aplysiomorpha)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 184 (1): 31–65. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx099. ISSN 0024-4082. PMC 6169219. PMID 30319150.
  11. ^ Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.
  • Keen M. (1971). Sea shells of Tropical West America. Marine mollusks from Baja California to Perú. (2nd edit.). Stanford University Press pp. 1064:
  • 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.
  • Rolán E., 2005. Malacological Fauna From The Cape Verde Archipelago. Part 1, Polyplacophora and Gastropoda.
  • 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.

Further reading