The California sea hare is a species of sea slug in the sea hare family, Aplysiidae. It is found in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California in the United States and northwestern Mexico.
The clade Anaspidea, commonly known as sea hares, are medium-sized to very large opisthobranch gastropod molluscs with a soft internal shell made of protein. These are marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamilies Aplysioidea and Akeroidea.
Sea slug is a common name for some marine invertebrates with varying levels of resemblance to terrestrial slugs. Most creatures known as sea slugs are gastropods, i.e. they are sea snails that over evolutionary time have either completely lost their shells, or have seemingly lost their shells due to having a greatly reduced or internal shell. The name "sea slug" is most often applied to nudibranchs, as well as to a paraphyletic set of other marine gastropods without obvious shells.
The Aplysia gill and siphon withdrawal reflex (GSWR) is an involuntary, defensive reflex of the sea hare Aplysia californica, a large shell-less sea snail or sea slug. This reflex causes the sea hare's delicate siphon and gill to be retracted when the animal is disturbed. Aplysia californica is used in neuroscience research for studies of the cellular basis of behavior including: habituation, dishabituation, and sensitization, because of the simplicity and relatively large size of the underlying neural circuitry.
Aplysiidae is the only family in the superfamily Aplysioidea, within the clade Anaspidea. These animals are commonly called sea hares because, unlike most sea slugs, they are often quite large, and when they are underwater, their rounded body shape and the long rhinophores on their heads mean that their overall shape resembles that of a sitting rabbit or hare. Sea hares are however sea snails with shells reduced to a small plate hidden between the parapodia, and some species are extremely large. The Californian black sea hare, Aplysia vaccaria is arguably the largest living gastropod species, and is certainly the largest living heterobranch gastropod.
Aplysia is a genus of medium-sized to extremely large sea slugs, specifically sea hares, which are one clade of large sea slugs, marine gastropod mollusks.
A rhinophore is one of a pair of chemosensory club-shaped, rod-shaped or ear-like structures which are the most prominent part of the external head anatomy in sea slugs, marine gastropod opisthobranch mollusks such as the nudibranchs, sea hares (Aplysiomorpha), and sap-sucking sea slugs (Sacoglossa).
The spotted sea hare is a species of sea slug in the family Aplysiidae, the sea hares. It reaches a length of up to 20 cm (7.9 in) and is found in the northeast Atlantic, ranging from Greenland and Norway to the Mediterranean Sea.
Pleurobranchaea meckeli is a species of sea slug, specifically a side gill slug or notaspideans. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pleurobranchaeidae.
Pleurobranchaea maculata, or the grey side-gilled slug, is a species of sea slug, specifically a side-gill slug or notaspidean. It is a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pleurobranchaeidae.
Armina californica is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Arminidae.
Janolus fuscus is a species of sea slug, or more accurately a nudibranch, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Proctonotidae.
The dwarf warty pleurobranch, Pleurobranchaea tarda, is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Pleurobranchaeidae.
Pleurobranchaea is a genus of sea slugs, specifically sidegill slugs or notaspideans. These are marine gastropod molluscs in the family Pleurobranchaeidae. The genus is differentiated from other sidegill slugs by its rhinophores, which are well separated, rather than being joined under the notum. This genus has recently been coined sea owls which is the common name in Japanese for Pleurobranchaea japonica.
Aplysia vaccaria, also known as the black sea hare and California black sea hare, is a species of extremely large sea slug, a marine, opisthobranch, gastropod mollusk in the family Aplysiidae. It is the largest sea slug species.
A. californica may refer to:
The Pleurobranchaeidae are a taxonomic family of sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Pleurobranchomorpha.
Hancockia californica is a species of sea slug, an Eastern Pacific Ocean nudibranch, a marine, opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Hancockiidae.
Polycera hummi is a species of sea slug, a nudibranch, a shell-less marine gastropod mollusc in the family Polyceridae.
