Aplysia
640637
222913791
2008-07-01T18:43:06Z
DOI bot
6652755
Citation maintenance. Formatted: journal. You can [[WP:DOI|use this bot]] yourself! Please [[User:DOI_bot/bugs|report any bugs]].
{{Taxobox
| name = ''Aplysia''
| image = Aplysia_californica.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = ''[[Aplysia californica]]''
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Mollusca]]
| classis = [[Gastropoda]]
| subclassis = [[Orthogastropoda]]
| superordo = [[Heterobranchia]]
| ordo = [[Opisthobranchia]]
| subordo = [[Anaspidea]]
| superfamilia = [[Aplysioidea]]
| familia = [[Aplysiidae]]
| genus = '''''Aplysia'''''
| genus_authority = [[Linnaeus]], 1767
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision = See text.
}}
The genus '''''Aplysia''''' belongs to the family [[Aplysiidae]] and is a genus of [[sea hare]]s, which are a type of large [[Opisthobranchia|sea slug]]. The general description of these sea hares can be found under the entry about the superfamily [[Aplysioidea]] ('''Sea hares''')
These [[benthic]] herbivorous sea hares can become rather tall, compared with other mollusks. They graze in tidal and subtidal zones of tropical waters, mostly in the Indo-Pacific Ocean (23 species); but they can also be found in the Atlantic Ocean (12 species), with a few species occurring in the [[Mediterranean]].
''Aplysia'', when threatened, releases clouds of ink to blind the attacker. Following the lead of [[Eric R. Kandel]], the genus has been studied as a [[model organism]] by [[neurobiology|neurobiologists]], because this ink release response, as studied in ''Aplysia californica'', is mediated by [[electrical synapse]]s, which allow several [[neuron]]s to fire synchronously (Kandel et al., 2000). This quick neural response is necessary for a speedy reaction to danger by the animal.
==Species within the genus ''Aplysia''==
This list follows the studies of ''Medina et al.'' who established a phylogenetic hypothesis for the genus ''Aplysia'' through study of the partial [[mitochondria]]l DNA (mtDNA) sequence data of [[ribosome|ribosomal genes]] (rDNA).
*''[[Aplysia brasiliana]]'' <small>(Rang, 1828)</small> Mottled sea hare, sooty sea hare (junior synonym of ''Aplysia fasciata''; different geographical populations of the same species)
**Distribution : West-Atlantic from New Jersey to Brazil, East-Atlantic around Ghana
**Length : up to 27 cm
**Color : variable
*''[[Aplysia californica]]'' <small>(J.G. Cooper, 1863)</small> California sea hare, California black sea hare
**Distribution : Northeast Pacific
*''[[Aplysia cedrocensis]]'' <small>(Bartsch & Rehder, 1939)</small>
**Distribution : Northeast Pacific
*''[[Aplysia cervina]]'' <small>(Dall & Simpson, 1901)</small>
**Distribution : West Atlantic
*[[Aplysia cornigera]] <small>Sowerby, 1869 </small>
**Distributuion: Indian Ocean, West Pacific
*[[Aplysia cronullae]] <small> Eales, 1960 </small>
**Distribution : Southwest Pacific
*''[[Aplysia dactylomela]]'' <small>(Rang, 1828)</small> Spotted sea hare
**Distribution : [[Cosmopolitan distribution|Cosmopolitan]]; tropical and temperate seas.
**Color : from pale gray to green to dark brown.
**Description : large black rings on the mantle; good swimmer
*[[Aplysia denisoni]] <small> Smith, 1884 </small>
**Distribution : Indian Ocean, West Pacific
*''[[Aplysia depilans]]'' <small>([[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|Gmelin]], 1791)</small>
**Distribution : Northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean.
**Description : thin, yellow inner shell
*''[[Aplysia donca]]'' <small>(Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1960)</small>
**Distribution : North America, West-Atlantic
*[[Aplysia dura]] <small> Eales, 1960 </small>
**Distribution : Southeast Atlantic, Southwest Pacific
*[[Aplysia euchlora]] <small> Adams in M.E.Gray, 1850 </small>
**Distribution : Northwest Pacific
*''[[Aplysia extraordinaria]]'' <small>(Allan, 1932)</small> (possibly = ''Aplysia gigantea'')
**Distribution : Western Australia, New Zealand.
**Length : more than 40 cm
*''[[Aplysia fasciata]]'' <small>(Poiret, 1798)</small> ( ''Aplysia brasiliana'' <small>Rang, 1828 </small> is a junior synonym).
**Distribution : East Atlantic, Mediterranean, West Africa, Red Sea
**Length : 40 cm
**Color : dark brown to black.
**Description : sometimes a red border to the parapodia and oral tentacles;
*''[[Aplysia geographica]]'' <small>(Adams & Reeve, 1850)</small> (?)
**Distribution : Western Australia.
**Length : 60 cm
**Color : dark brown to black
**Description : the skin secretions are very distasteful; washed up specimens; have been implicated in the deaths of dogs
*''[[Aplysia gigantea]]'' <small> Sowerby, 1869 </small>
**Distribution : Indian Ocean, West Pacific
*[[Aplysia gracilis]] <small> Eales, 1960 </small>
**Distribution : Red Sea
*[[Aplysia inca]] <small> d'Orbigny, 1837 </small>
**Distribution : Southeast Pacific
*''[[Aplysia juliana]]'' <small>([[Jean René Constant Quoy|Quoy]] & [[Joseph Paul Gaimard|Gaimard]], 1832)</small> Walking sea hare
**Distribution: cosmopolitan, circumtropicalin all warm seas
**Color: various, from uniform to pale brown
**Description: no purple gland, therefore no ink secretions; posterior end of the foot can act as a sucker
*''[[Aplysia keraudreni]]'' <small>Rang, 1828</small>
**Distribution: South Pacific
**Length: 25 cm
**Color: dark brown
*''[[Aplysia kurodai]]'' <small>(Baba, 1937)</small>
**Distribution: NW Pacific
**Length: 30 cm
**Color: dark brown to purplish black, dotted with white spots
*[[Aplysia maculata]] <small> Rang, 1828 </small>
**Distribution : Western Indian Ocean
*''[[Aplysia morio]]'' <small>([[Addison Emery Verrill|A. E. Verrill]], 1901)</small> Atlantic black sea hare, Sooty Sea Hare
**Distribution: Northwest Atlantic
**Length: 40 cm
**Color: black to deep brown; no spots
*[[Aplysia nigra]] <small> d'Orbigny, 1837 </small>
**Distribution : Southwest Atlantic, South Pacific
*''[[Aplysia nigra brunnea]]'' <small>Hutton, 1875</small>
**Distribution: [[New Zealand]]
**Length: 10 cm
**Color: dark brown
*''[[Aplysia oculifera]]'' <small>(Adams & Reeve, 1850)</small>
**Distribution: Indian Ocean; West Pacific
**Description: small brown eye-spots
*''[[Aplysia parvula]]'' <small>(Guilding in Moerch, 1863)</small> Pygmy sea hare
**Distribution : worldwide in warm to temperate seas
**Length: 6 cm
**Color: brown to green spots
*[[Aplysia pulmonica]] <small> Gould, 1852 </small>
**Distribution : West Pacific
*''[[Aplysia punctata]]'' <small>([[Georges Cuvier|Cuvier]], 1803)</small>
**Distribution: NE Atlantic
**Length: 20 cm
**Color: very variable
*[[Aplysia rehderi]] <small> Eales, 1960 </small>
**Distribution : Northeast Pacific
*[[Aplysia reticulata]] <small> Eales, 1960 </small>
**Distribution : Southwest Pacific
*''[[Aplysia reticulopoda]]'' <small>(Beeman, 1960)</small> Net-foot sea hare
**Distribution : Northeast Pacific
*[[Aplysia robertsi]] <small> Pilsbry, 1895 </small>
**Distribution : Northeast Pacific
*[[Aplysia rudmani]] <small> Bebbington, 1974 </small>
**Distribution : Indian Ocean
*''[[Aplysia sagamiana]]'' <small>(Baba, 1949)</small>
**Distribution: East Australia, Japan; Nortwest Pacific
*''[[Aplysia sibogae]]'' <small>(Bergh, 1905)</small> (?)(probably = ''Aplysia juliana'')
*[[Aplysia sowerbyi]] <small> Pilsbry, 1895 </small>
**Distribution : Southwest Pacific
*''[[Aplysia sydneyensis]]'' <small>(Sowerby, 1869)</small>
**Distribution: Australia
**Length: 15 cm
**Description: not clearly defined
*[[Aplysia tanzanensis]] <small> Bebbington, 1974 </small>
**Distribution : Indian Ocean
*''[[Aplysia vaccaria]]'' <small>(Winkler, 1955)</small> California black sea hare (possibly ?= ''Aplysia cedrocensis'')
**Distribution: Pacific Coast of California
**Length: very big – up to 75 cm
**Color: black
**Description: no purple ink; huge internal shell
*''[[Aplysia willcoxi]]'' <small>(Hellprin, 1886)</small> (?)
*[[Aplysia winneba]] <small> Eales, 1957 </small>
**Distribution : tropical East Atlantic
==References==
* [[Eric R. Kandel|Kandel Eric R.]], Schwartz, J.H., Jessell, T.M. 2000. ''[[Principles of Neural Science]]'', 4th ed., p.180. McGraw-Hill, New York.
*{{cite journal | author=Mónica Medina, Timothy Collins, and Patrick J. Walsh| title=Phylogeny Of Sea Hares In The Aplysia Clade Based On Mitochondrial Dna Sequence Data | journal=Bulletin Of Marine Science, 76(3): 691–698, 2005| year=2005| volume=76| issue=3| url=http://www.qsb.ucmerced.edu/mmedina/publications/Medina_etal05BMS.pdf| pages=691–698 }} (full text as a pdf-file)
==External links==
{{wikispecies|Aplysia}}
* Photos Aplysia - [http://www.mondomarino.net/ricerca/index.asp?view=ico&genere_opt=contiene&genere=aplysia MondoMarino.net]
[[Category:Aplysiidae]]
[[de:Aplysia]]
[[it:Aplysia]]
[[fr:Aplysie]]
[[hr:Morski zekani]]
[[pt:Aplysia]]