Aplysia pulmonica

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Aplysiida
Family: Aplysiidae
Genus: Aplysia
Species: Aplysia pulmonica

Aplysia pulmonica is a sea hare in the family Aplysiidae. The book highlights its impressive size. Like other Aplysia, it has a fleshy body, rolled rhinophores that suggest a hare's ears, and broad body flaps known as parapodia.

Sea hares are grazers that feed on algae. Their feeding role is very different from that of carnivorous nudibranchs, despite both groups often being grouped together as sea slugs. An animal resting beside algae is not necessarily feeding at that moment.

For divers in the Philippines, taking time to recognise the head and folded flaps helps distinguish a sea hare from a shapeless patch of the seabed. Use the book and several views when checking an identification.

Give a large subject room in the frame. Photograph the head and body outline without touching it, and keep your fins clear so suspended sediment does not obscure the view.

It appears on page 299 of Nudibranchs of the Philippines.

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