- Source: Aplysia extraordinaria
Aplysia extraordinaria, common name the "extraordinary sea hare", is a very large species of sea slug, more specifically a sea hare, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Aplysiidae, the sea hares. Its distribution includes the coast off of eastern Australia, northern New Zealand, and possibly a wider range.
It is most likely the same species as Aplysia gigantea which is found off of the western coast of Australia, but this has yet to be confirmed.
References
Bebbington A. (1977) Aplysiid species from Eastern Australia with notes on the Pacific Ocean Aplysiomorpha (Gastropoda, Opisthobranchia). Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 34: 87-147
Spencer, H.G., Marshall, B.A. & Willan, R.C. (2009). Checklist of New Zealand living Mollusca. Pp 196-219. in: Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch
Further reading
Hamatani I. & Baba, K. (2003). "A New Record of Aplysia (Varria) extraordinaria (Allan, 1932) (Opisthobranchia: Anaspidea) from Suruga Bay, Japan".
External links
Spencer H.G., Willan R.C., Marshall B.A. & Murray T.J. (2011). Checklist of the Recent Mollusca Recorded from the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone
Nimbs M. J., Willan R. C. & Smith S. D. A. (2017). Is Port Stephens, eastern Australia, a global hotspot for biodiversity of Aplysiidae (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia)?. Molluscan Research. 37(1): 47-65