Dolabrifera dolabrifera

Dolabrifera dolabrifera
	A live individual of Dolabrifera dolabrifera, head end at the upper left
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Clade:	Euopisthobranchia
Clade:	Anaspidea
Superfamily:	Aplysioidea
Family:	Aplysiidae
Genus:	Dolabrifera
Species:	D. dolabrifera
Binomial name
	Dolabrifera dolabrifera; (Rang, 1828)
Synonyms
	Aplysia ascifera Rang, 1828; Aplysia dolabrifera Cuvier, 1817 (nomen nudum); Aplysia oahouensis Souleyet, 1852; Dolabrifera ascifera (Rang, 1828); Dolabrifera cuvieri H. Adams & A. Adams, 1854 (unnecessary substitute name for Dolabrifera dolabrifera); Dolabrifera maillardi Deshayes, 1863; Dolabrifera nicaraguana Pilsbry, 1896; Dolabrifera olivacea Pease, 1860; Dolabrifera sowerbyi G.B. Sowerby II, 1868; Dolabrifera swiftii Pilsbry, 1896; Dolabrifera virens A. E. Verrill, 1901;

Dolabrifera dolabrifera is a species of sea hare, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Aplysiidae, the sea hares.^[3] Dolabrifera dolabrifera, otherwise known as a Warty Seacat.^[4] The animal goes by many names, including the common sea hare.^[5] The Hawaiian name for Dolabrifera dolabrifera, is Kualakai.^[5]

Description & Biology

The Seacat is a flat sea hare that grows to about 10 cm long.^[6] The maximum recorded length is 108 mm.^[7] It is commonly spotty green or brown, but it can also be reddish.^[6] The animal's back half is typically wider and rounded, it narrows towards the head.^[6] Warty Seacats are soft-bodied gastropods, who have lost a protective shell over time.^[4] All species of sea hares have ink glands for chemical defense, though Dolabrifera dolabrifera does not release ink.^[8]

Distribution

This species is found in warm tropical and subtropical waters.^[6]

Habitat

These animals are majorly preyed on in their habitat.^[4] The Seacats live in shallow-flat pools that contain large boulders, near-shore.^[4] Collections of the hares gather underneath rocks in the intertidal zone.^[9] At night the warty Seacats hide themselves in between cracks found in the boulders.^[4] During the day, when the tide rises, the Seacats emerge.^[4] Due to the varying in color and pattern, it is hard to distinguish them from other species in the habitat.^[10] The minimum recorded depth for this species is 0 m; the maximum recorded depth is 3 m.^[11]

Life cycle

Dolabrifera dolabrifera egg ribbon 5 days old

Dolabrifera dolabrifera veliger stage embryo, 7 days old, in egg capsule just before hatching

Veliger larva of sea hare Dolabrifera dolabrifera, one day after hatching

References

^ Cuvier G. L. (1817). La Règne Animal. Volume 2. (Gasteropodes), Volume 4.
^ Rudman W. B. (2003) "Dolabrifera dolabrifera (Rang, 1828) " Archived May 5, 2005, at the Wayback Machine. SeaSlugForum, accessed 16 September 2011.
^ Bouchet, P. (2010). Dolabrifera dolabrifera (Rang, 1828). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=224652 on 31 March 2012
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Himstead, Alexander; Wright, William G. (2018-03-04). "Precise foraging schedule in an intertidal euopisthobranch mollusk". Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology. 51 (2): 131–141. doi:10.1080/10236244.2018.1505430. ISSN 1023-6244. S2CID 91371208.
^ ^a ^b "Aplysiidae - Marine Invertebrates of Kalaupapa National Historical Park". www.botany.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d jurisdiction=New South Wales; corporateName=Australian Museum; author=Rudman, W. B. (2010-07-15). "The Sea Slug Forum - Dolabrifera dolabrifera". www.seaslugforum.net. Retrieved 2023-02-27. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Welch, John J. (2010-01-19). Joly, Simon (ed.). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLOS ONE. 5 (1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 2808249. PMID 20098740.
^ Prince, Jeffrey S.; Johnson, Paul Micah (2006-11-01). "Ultrastructural comparison of Aplysia and Dolabrifera ink glands suggests cellular sites of anti-predator protein production and algal pigment processing". Journal of Molluscan Studies. 72 (4): 349–357. doi:10.1093/mollus/eyl017. ISSN 1464-3766.
^ Hoover, John P. (2010). Hawai'i's sea creatures : a guide to Hawai'i's marine invertebrates. Mutual Pub. ISBN 978-1-56647-220-3. OCLC 1293454919.
^ Valdés, Ángel; Breslau, Eric; Padula, Vinicius; Schrödl, Michael; Camacho, Yolanda; Malaquias, Manuel António E; Alexander, Jennifer; Bottomley, Morgan; Vital, Xochitl G; Hooker, Yuri; Gosliner, Terrence M (2018-09-01). "Molecular and morphological systematics of Dolabrifera Gray, 1847 (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Aplysiomorpha)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 184 (1): 31–65. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx099. ISSN 0024-4082. PMC 6169219. PMID 30319150.
^ Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.

Keen M. (1971). Sea shells of Tropical West America. Marine mollusks from Baja California to Perú. (2nd edit.). Stanford University Press pp. 1064:
Bebbington A. (1977) Aplysiid species from Eastern Australia with notes on the Pacific Ocean Aplysiomorpha (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia). Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 34: 87-147.
Rolán E., 2005. Malacological Fauna From The Cape Verde Archipelago. Part 1, Polyplacophora and Gastropoda.
Rosenberg, G., F. Moretzsohn, and E. F. García. 2009. Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 579–699 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas.