Dolabrifera dolabrifera

{{Speciesbox

| name = Dolabrifera dolabrifera

| status =

| image = Dolabrifera1.jpg

| image_caption = A live individual of Dolabrifera dolabrifera, head end at the upper left

| genus = Dolabrifera

| species = dolabrifera

| authority = (Rang, 1828)

| synonyms_ref = Rudman W. B. (2003) [http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=doladola "Dolabrifera dolabrifera (Rang, 1828) "] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050505082550/http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=doladola |date=May 5, 2005 }}. SeaSlugForum, accessed 16 September 2011.

| synonyms =

Aplysia ascifera Rang, 1828
Aplysia dolabrifera Cuvier, 1817Cuvier G. L. (1817). La Règne Animal. Volume 2. (Gasteropodes), Volume 4. (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.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 Dolabrifera dolabrifera, otherwise known as a Warty Seacat.{{Cite journal |last1=Himstead |first1=Alexander |last2=Wright |first2=William G. |date=2018-03-04 |title=Precise foraging schedule in an intertidal euopisthobranch mollusk |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10236244.2018.1505430 |journal=Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology |language=en |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=131–141 |doi=10.1080/10236244.2018.1505430 |s2cid=91371208 |issn=1023-6244}} The animal goes by many names, including the common sea hare.{{Cite web |title=Aplysiidae - Marine Invertebrates of Kalaupapa National Historical Park |url=http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/basch/uhnpscesu/htms/kalainvr/family/aplysiid.htm |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=www.botany.hawaii.edu}} The Hawaiian name for Dolabrifera dolabrifera, is Kualakai.

Description & Biology

The Seacat is a flat sea hare that grows to about 10 cm long.{{Cite web |last=jurisdiction=New South Wales; corporateName=Australian Museum; author=Rudman |first=W. B. |date=2010-07-15 |title=The Sea Slug Forum - Dolabrifera dolabrifera |url=http://www.seaslugforum.net/showall/doladola |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=www.seaslugforum.net |language=en}} The maximum recorded length is 108 mm.{{Cite journal |last=Welch |first=John J. |date=2010-01-19 |editor-last=Joly |editor-first=Simon |title=The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=e8776 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0008776 |pmid=20098740 |issn=1932-6203|pmc=2808249 |doi-access=free }} It is commonly spotty green or brown, but it can also be reddish. The animal's back half is typically wider and rounded, it narrows towards the head. Warty Seacats are soft-bodied gastropods, who have lost a protective shell over time. All species of sea hares have ink glands for chemical defense, though Dolabrifera dolabrifera does not release ink.{{Cite journal |last1=Prince |first1=Jeffrey S. |last2=Johnson |first2=Paul Micah |date=2006-11-01 |title=Ultrastructural comparison of Aplysia and Dolabrifera ink glands suggests cellular sites of anti-predator protein production and algal pigment processing |url=http://academic.oup.com/mollus/article/72/4/349/2883174/Ultrastructural-comparison-of-Aplysia-and |journal=Journal of Molluscan Studies |language=en |volume=72 |issue=4 |pages=349–357 |doi=10.1093/mollus/eyl017 |issn=1464-3766|doi-access=free }}

Distribution

This species is found in warm tropical and subtropical waters.

Habitat

These animals are majorly preyed on in their habitat. The Seacats live in shallow-flat pools that contain large boulders, near-shore. Collections of the hares gather underneath rocks in the intertidal zone.{{Cite book |author=Hoover, John P. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1293454919 |title=Hawai'i's sea creatures : a guide to Hawai'i's marine invertebrates |date=2010 |publisher=Mutual Pub |isbn=978-1-56647-220-3 |oclc=1293454919}} At night the warty Seacats hide themselves in between cracks found in the boulders. During the day, when the tide rises, the Seacats emerge. Due to the varying in color and pattern, it is hard to distinguish them from other species in the habitat.{{Cite journal |last1=Valdés |first1=Ángel |last2=Breslau |first2=Eric |last3=Padula |first3=Vinicius |last4=Schrödl |first4=Michael |last5=Camacho |first5=Yolanda |last6=Malaquias |first6=Manuel António E |last7=Alexander |first7=Jennifer |last8=Bottomley |first8=Morgan |last9=Vital |first9=Xochitl G |last10=Hooker |first10=Yuri |last11=Gosliner |first11=Terrence M |date=2018-09-01 |title=Molecular and morphological systematics of Dolabrifera Gray, 1847 (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Aplysiomorpha) |url=https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/184/1/31/4781679 |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |language=en |volume=184 |issue=1 |pages=31–65 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx099 |pmid=30319150 |issn=0024-4082|pmc=6169219 }} The minimum recorded depth for this species is 0 m; the maximum recorded depth is 3 m.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}}.

Life cycle

File:Dolabrifera2.jpg

File:Dolabrifera3.jpg

File:Dolabrifera5.jpg larva of sea hare Dolabrifera dolabrifera, one day after hatching]]

References

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.