Описание
Dolabella auricularia, commonly known as the wedge sea hare or blunt-end sea hare, is a large species of marine sea slug belonging to the family Aplysiidae.
Morphology & Physical Description
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Size: Grows up to 40 to 50 cm (16–20 inches) in length.
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Body Shape: Features a narrow, blunt head with rabbit-ear-like rhinophores (tentacles), widening toward the rear into a distinct, sloping, flattened disc-like shield on the posterior surface.
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Texture & Color: The body is mottled in shades of green and brown for camouflage, covered in soft pustules, warts, or skin papillae giving it a shaggy, knob-like appearance.
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Shell: Possesses a small, vestigial, ear-shaped internal calcareous shell.
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Defense: Ejects a copious amount of purple ink from its exhalant siphon when disturbed or threatened.
Habitat & Distribution
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Geographic Range: Widely distributed throughout the tropical Indo-West Pacific region, including the Red Sea, East Africa, the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia (such as the Philippines), Hawaii, and northern Australia.
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Environment: Found in shallow, sheltered bays, lagoons, inner reef flats, seagrass beds, sandy or muddy bottoms, and intertidal rock pools (typically from the surface down to about 20 meters depth).
Diet & Behavior
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Feeding: Herbivorous, feeding on a mixed diet of green, brown, and red macroalgae as well as seagrasses.
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Activity: Primarily nocturnal; hides under rocks, coral heads, or in the substrate during the day and emerges at night to forage.
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Aquarium Use: Frequently kept in saltwater reef aquariums as a natural cleaner to graze on nuisance hair algae and film algae
