Order : Anaspidea
Superfamily : Aplysioidea
Family : Aplysiidae
Distribution : World-wide distribution in tropical to warm temperate waters
Maximal size : 80 mm
Abundance : From time to time on the fore reef zone

Tiny white dot form :
   - The color can be extremely variable, depending upon diet but is always in shades of pale brown or green, speckled with white.
   - The parapodia edge ranges in colour from black to pale blue.
   - The tips of tentacles are usually darker than the background colour
   - And a large mantle foramen

Marina Poddubetskaia

Mayotte, Passe en S, buoy n° 3, 3-4 m, 5 November 2003, size : 15 mm

Showing species characteristics...

Brown orange to dark brown form :
   - Most usually black but sometimes a very dark brown or in some case brown-orange.
   - This tiny Aplysia has a cream, blue, red or pink rim to the parapodia, rhinophores and oral tentacles
   - And a large mantle foramen

Sophie Darnis

Showing species characteristics...

Reunion, La Barge, Saint Paul, 24 m, 7 November 2009, size : 20-25 mm

Large white spots form :
   - The color is always in shades of pale brown or green, dotted with large white spots
   - This seaslug has a thin black then large blue rim to the parapodia, rhinophores, foot border and oral tentacles
   - And a large mantle foramen

Christophe Cadet

Showing species characteristics...

Reunion, Etang salé, on the rocky coast, less 1 m, 9 February 2010, size : 10 mm

Pink and black form :
   - The color is always in shade on pink with marks of brown under the eyes
   - This Aplysia has a black rim to the parapodia, rhinophores and oral tentacles with a thin white edge
   - And a large mantle foramen

Christophe Cadet

Réunion, Etang salé, on the rocky coast, less 1 m, 24 October 2010, size : 15 mm

An original pattern, large white spotss with tiny white dots

Philibert Bidgrain

Reunion, Hermitage lagoon, less 1 m, 24 September 2010, size : 15 mm for the larger

Probably a Mating behavior...

Philibert Bidgrain

Reunion, "Kelonia center", at Saint Leu, 8 December 2006, size : 30 mm

A tiny white dot form :

Between the two parapodia (a), there is a very large hole or foramen in the mantle (b) , through which we can see, and touch, the brownish shell (c).

Alain Barrére

Reunion, "Souris blanche" lagoon at Trois Bassins, less 1 m, 4 November 2006, size : 10-20 mm

A tiny white dot form :

with :
   - a pale brown coloration
   - a pale blue marginal edge
   - a large foramen lined with dark brown

Marina Poddubetskaia

Mayotte, "Passe Bandrélé", Bandrélé, 8 m, 11 November 2003, size : 15 mm

A tiny white dot form :

with :
   - a reddish coloration of the mantle.
   - a dark brown/blue marginal edge
   - a large foramen lined with dark brown

Sully Bachel

Reunion, La Barge, Saint Paul, 24 m, 23 October 2009, size : 20-25 mm

The same specimen than Sophie Darnis, but two weeks before....

A large white spots form :
   - This seaslug has a thin black then large blue rim to the parapodia (a), rhinophores (b), foot border (c) and oral tentacles (d)

Marina Poddubetskaia

Mayotte, "Passe Bandrélé", Bandrélé, 9 m, 11 November 2003, size : 12 mm

A large white spots form :

- The color is in shades of pale brown, dotted with large white spots

Marina Poddubetskaia

Mauritius, "Jardin de Corail", Pereybère, 17 m, 18 October 2002, size : 15 mm

Dark brown form :

   - This tiny Aplysia has a white/cream rim to the parapodia, rhinophores and oral tentacles

Florence Trentin

Mohéli, Sambia, 13 October 2006, size : 10-12 mm

Dark brown form :

- This tiny Aplysia has a blue rim to the parapodia, rhinophores and oral tentacles

Marina Poddubetskaia

Most specimens from Mayotte of Aplysia parvula found by Marina were found inside this red alga.

There has been a lot of interesting research on feeding in this species and it seems that some species of red algae are preferred over others, and the preferred ones contain metabolites which are stored by the sea hares for their own defense

Christophe Cadet

Réunion, Etang salé, on the rocky coast, less 1 m, 19 Octobrer 2012, size : 10 mm

Pattern brown-orange :

An original pattern for this species in our area.