Aplysa parvula Rang, 1828

Aplysia parvula is reasonably common in the Marshalls if you look in the right places. They seem to prefer intertidal and very shallow subtidal reefs down to about 2 meters depth. We have found a few deeper, particularly in patches of Halimeda algae on the lagoon slope as deep as 20 meters. It varies somewhat in color, with the most typical color form shown in the first few shots below.

A circular piece of the yellow brown shell is visible between the parapodia just right of center in the photo below.

This "face" view illustrates why these are commonly called sea hares.

This species also comes in a dark brown to black form, sometimes with white to yellowish spots.

Created 27 January 2007