P_2240085 Little sea hare (Aplysia parvula) ' inking' - producing a cloud of purple ink from its mantle cavity after being disturbed in a rock pool. There is evidence sea hares store noxious chemicals from algae, in their skins. When these chemicals are secreted, they provide a powerful defence against predators. Brighton Beach *
P_2240005 Little sea hare (Aplysia parvula) ' inking' - producing a cloud of purple ink from its mantle cavity after being disturbed in a rock pool. There is evidence sea hares store noxious chemicals from algae, in their skins. When these chemicals are secreted, they provide a powerful defence against predators. Brighton Beach *
P_2240111 Little sea hare (Aplysia parvula) an aggregation formed by a tangled 'mating chain' of sea hares gathered around an egg mass in a tidal pool. Sea hares are hermaphrodites - typically the animal at the front of the chain acts solely as a female, and the animal at the end of the chain acts solely as a male, while those in the middle are acting as both males and females. This is the smallest sea hare found in New Zealand. Common on coralline algal turf in intertidal pools on rocky reefs throughout New Zealand, in late summer. Brighton Beach *
