| Aplysia vaccaria | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Euopisthobranchia clade Aplysiomorpha |
| Superfamily: | Aplysioidea |
| Family: | Aplysiidae |
| Genus: | Aplysia |
| Species: | A. vaccaria |
| Binomial name | |
| Aplysia vaccaria Winkler, 1955 |
|
Aplysia vaccaria, also known as the "black sea hare," and the "California black sea hare," is a species of extremely large sea slug, a marine, opisthobranch, gastropod mollusk in the family Aplysiidae. It is the largest known species of sea slug, and may be the world's largest living gastropod. [1]
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This sea hare species lives in California and Baja California, Mexico.
The black sea hare can grow to be very large. The longest recorded specimen measured ninety-nine centimeters when crawling (and thus fully extended), and weighed nearly fourteen kilograms. [2]
Unlike Aplysia californica, the body of this species is relatively firm, and the parapodia are joined behind the siphon. [3]
Unlike many other species in the same family, this species is incapable of producing ink.
All Aplysia species are herbivorous. This species eats brown seaweeds and kelp, which give the animal its typically very dark coloration.