Bursatella leachii
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| Bursatella leachii | ||||||||||||||||||
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Secure
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| Bursatella leachii Blainville, 1817 |
Bursatella leachii, or the ragged sea hare or shaggy sea hare, is a species of large sea slug or sea hare, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Aplysiidae.
[edit] Range of distribution
This is a circumtropical sea hare, the only species in its genus. It occurs in the intertidal zone on coastal areas of the Indo-West Pacific oceans, the Caribbean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
[edit] Description
Bursatella leachii is green to greenish brown. It has a broad and short head. Its mantle is covered with papillae (finger-like outgrowths), which give it a thorny aspect. The mantle has a network-like pattern with blue eyespots (ocelli) in black spots and green areas. It moves slowly on a broad foot. There is short, sharp tail. The short parapodia (fleshy, winglike outgrowths) are fused on their rear end.
The length is up to 15 cm but usually between 5 and 10 cm.
A more general description of the sea hares can be found on the pages of superfamily Aplysioidea and the suborder Anaspidea.
