Ragged Seahare
Bursatella leachii
Summary 9
Bursatella leachii, common name 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, the sea hares....
Description 10
Bursatella leachii, the ragged sea hare, is a medium- to large-sized benthic opisthobranch mollusc within the Order Anaspide, the sea hares. The body is variably colored, grayish-green to white-tan with dark brown blotches and spots, compact and rounded, with distinct head and neck regions evident. The body is also covered with numerous long, branching fleshy papillae that give the animal its ragged appearance. The gill is covered by a pair of fleshy parapodia. Two long, retractile olfactory tentacles called rhinophores occur on the head, and also two fleshy enrolled oral tentacles occur at each side of the mouth. Adults completely lack a shell (Voss 1980, Kaplan 1988, Rupert and Fox 1988).
Distribution 11
Bursatella leachii is a circumtropical species found nearly worldwide in warm temperate to tropical marine environments (Rudman 1998). Kruczynski and Porter (1969) list North Carolina as the northern limit of the species on the US east coast.
Look alikes 12
Although Bursatella is a monophyletic genus containing only B. leachii, a wide range of color and morphological variations has prompted come authors to suggest that the global distribution comprises several distinct subspecies (Eales and Engel 1935, Bebbington 1969). If this convention is followed, the subspecies occurring in Florida is Bursatella leachii pleii Rang, 1828.Sea hares of the genus Aplysia co-occur with B. leachii throughout much of its range. Bursatella and Aplysia are easily distinguished from one another, as Aplysia are larger, lack the frilled, ragged appearance of Bursatella and possess large swimming flaps that are absent in B. leachii.
Reproduction 13
As with most sea hares, Bursatella leachii is a cross-fertilizing simultaneous hermaphrodite (Kaplan 1988). Fertilization is internal, with one individual transferring sperm via an eversible penis located on the right side of the head to the dorsally located gonopore (genital opening) of a second individual (Van Horn 2005). Thus inseminated, individuals lay large, tangled, spaghetti-like benthic egg masses that are usually orange, yellow, green, or brown in color. The string-like egg masses are comprised of numerous separate capsules, each of which contains 1-20 eggs that are approximately 87 ¦#181;m in diameter (Paige 1988).Ragged sea hares attain sexual maturity at 2-3 months of age (Paige 1988). At least in some parts of its range, the species appears to undergo continuous recruitment with no well-defined reproductive season (Clarke 2004).
Link to Access Genomic Data 14
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=6508&lvl=0
Sources and Credits
- (c) Jose Nunez, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by Jose Nunez
- (c) Ria Tan, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/54527470@N00/2937306223
- (c) Kevin Bryant, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mentalblock/7160364793/
- (c) Kevin Bryant, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mentalblock/7160557103/
- (c) Kevin Bryant, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mentalblock/7345763652/
- (c) Kevin Bryant, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mentalblock/7345784608/
- (c) Kevin Bryant, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mentalblock/7160538901/
- (c) Kevin Bryant, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mentalblock/7160563601/
- Adapted by Emily Rose Sharkey from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bursatella_leachii
- Adapted by Emily Rose Sharkey from a work by (c) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11525741
- Adapted by Emily Rose Sharkey from a work by (c) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11525742
- Adapted by Emily Rose Sharkey from a work by (c) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11525744
- Adapted by Emily Rose Sharkey from a work by (c) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11525746
- (c) Emily Rose Sharkey, all rights reserved
