Meet the Sea Hare

This unusual looking animal is a Sea Hare, a medium-sized opisthobranch gastropod mollusc (sea slug/snail) with a soft internal shell made of protein. 

What's in a name?

The name "sea hare" is a direct translation from Latin: lepus marinus. The name derives from their rounded shape and from the two long rhinophores that project upward from their heads and that somewhat resemble the ears of a hare. 

Rhinophores are a pair of ‘ear like’ structures that are the most prominent part of the external head anatomy of sea slugs and other gastropod mollusks. 

An adult size sea hare

The biggest species, Aplysia vaccaria, can reach a length of 75 centimetres and a weight of 14 kilograms! The species we see most often on the Sunshine Coast is Aplysia argus which can reach up to 20cm long as an adult.

Sea hares have soft bodies with an internal shell, and are hermaphroditic. Unlike many other gastropods, they are more or less bilaterally symmetrical in their external appearance. The foot has lateral projections, or "parapodia".

Some sea hare facts

• Sea hares are herbivorous and are typically found on seaweed in shallow water.
• They have an extremely good sense of smell.
• They can follow even the faintest scent using their rhinophores, which are extremely sensitive.
• Their colour corresponds with the colour of the seaweed they eat. 
• When disturbed, a sea hare can release ink from its ink glands, providing a fluid, smoke-like toxic screen. 
• Their skin contains a toxin that renders sea hares largely inedible to many predators. 
• Some sea hares can employ jet propulsion as a locomotion and others move like stingrays but with greater fluttering fluidity in their jelly-like "wings".

Love where we live and co-exist with nature in our wildlife friendly biosphere with these tips

• stay on the designated walkway and out of the dunes and bush
• keep your dogs on a lead and pick up after them
• bin your rubbish to keep our beautiful Sunshine Coast clean and litter free.