Dolabrifera dolabrifera is a speciesofsea hare, a marinegastropodmollusc in the familyAplysiidae, 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]
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-bodiedgastropods, 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]
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]
Dolabrifera dolabrifera egg ribbon 5 days oldDolabrifera dolabrifera veliger stage embryo, 7 days old, in egg capsule just before hatchingVeliger larva of sea hareDolabrifera dolabrifera, one day after hatching
^ abcdjurisdiction=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)
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.
