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Geographic Sea Hare

Syphonota geographica

Photo by AlbertKang
Published on Project Noah
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13.7687, 120.914

Field Notes

Description:

The clade Aplysiomorpha, commonly known as Sea hares, are medium-sized to very large Opisthobranchia with a soft internal shell made of protein. These are marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamilies Aplysioidea and Akeroidea

Habitat:

This specimen was spotted during night dive in a sandy/sea grass area.

Sea Hares are usually found in the shallows and at time, during low tides, they can be exposed.

They are mostly found during night time (except during low tides).
During day time, they can bury themselves into sands to hide.

Notes:

Some species of Sea Hares, when threatened/provoked, may release a purple-colored dye that can be mildy poisoinous to fishes.

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (36)
AlbertKang
That's the plan, @Gilma, to do a liveaboard diving to Cocos and then followed by land trips in Costa Rica :) Will get in touch with you for some tips/suggestions :D
Gilma Jeannette Ospino Ferreira-Norman
Would love to do that and will look forward to it, but you can do the snorkeling/diving...Sea life is fantastic here in Costa Rica, hammer heads, turtles, sharks, whales, sea horses, water snakes all kind of tropical fish.... I like the land spotting better because it is easier.. : (
AlbertKang
Finally, was able to find the exact ID/specie of this Sea Hare :)
AlbertKang
Thanks, @Leanne, @Gilma and @Yasser :) Glad you enjoyed my spottings, @Gilma. Am planning to go to Costa Rica next year, maybe can go spotting with you when there ;)
Yasser
Awesome shot! Congrats on a well deserved SoTD!
AlbertKang
Thanks, @Daniele, @Wild Things and @surekha :)
surekha
Gorgeous! Congratulations, AlbertKang!
AlbertKang
Thanks, @Mark, @Mac and @Lauren. I only saw this green Sea Hare once in all my 10 years of scuba diving in Anilao, Philippines, and that's more than 1000 dives. So, I can say this is a rare sighting :D
LaurenZarate
Congratulations Albert! This one is remarkable and so psychedelic looking. Just amazing.
AlbertKang
Thank you, @Sachindra, @Arturo and @Jolly :)
ArturoOrtiz
Congrats on yout SOTD, great spotting and photo!!
SachindraUmesh
wow!! absolutely awesome!!!the colors look stellar!!!!
AlbertKang
Wow, am honored! Thanks, @Karen and Ashley :)
AshleyT
Congrats Albert, you take such great underwater photos!
KarenL
Congratulations Albert, your psychedelically patterned sea hare is Spotting of the Day! Sea hares were named by the Ancient Greeks for their supposed resemblance to the European hare, and are members of the Opisthobranchia family of marine gastropod molluscs. Their “rabbit ears” are sensing organs called rhinophores, which are used for detecting chemicals dissolved in sea water. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah/photos/a.10150595289465603.674700.10150120463815603/10153888760180603/?type=1&stream_ref=10 Twitter: https://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/441053976604065792
AlbertKang
Thanks, @Arya. I am using Sony RX100 in Patima housing.
Arya
Nice shots Albert! What type of underwater camera do you use?
dotun55
Interesting series of aquatic creatures. Bravo!
AlbertKang
Thanks, @Leuba. Yes, they are mostly of the dull brown colors, but on the rare occasion, we come across one that is stunning as this one :)
Leuba Ridgway
.....another lovely spotting! Thanks AlbertKang. I've only ever seen a dull brown one. This is such a lovely colour.
AlbertKang
Thanks, @Gilma. Sea Life is indeed fantastic, lots of interesting stuff to discover :)
AlbertKang
The dive site t hat I found it is very popular for night dive, @Mark. Its just between 3 - 7 meters depth. Its seen during a scuba dive :D
Mark Ridgway
What a fabulous animal. That would be hard to see in shallows, sea grass and sand.
AlbertKang
Thanks, @Antonio. Will update additional info.
AntónioGinjaGinja
Very nice capture Albert,awesome,congrats and thanks for sharing. It would be nice if you can add more info on your spottings,some lines on each field,Description,Habitat and Comments,we like to emphasize the educatinal side of project noah and the best spottings deserved the best info :-) so ,if you have time,it would be a thing that we apreciate very much. Thanks on advance and congrats again on your very good work

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Global Coral Reef Monitoring
Mission
Opisthobranchs & Nudibranchs of the World
Mission
Philippine Wildlife
Mission
National Geographic's Great Nature Project

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Photographed
PublishedMarch 4, 2014

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