California sea hare
California sea hare ( Aplysia californica )
The California sea hare ( Aplysia californica ) is a sea snail of the genus Aplysia and is found mainly on the coast of California.
She is a very large sea snail, which can grow up to 75 cm long (most are only half as large). It is a herbivore and their main diet consists of red and brown algae, which gives it its typical dark color. It is (like all sea hares ) a hermaphrodite. She lays eggs in strings from the ground.
This genus is known as object of research by neuroscientists because it has extremely large neurons, which can even prepare without a microscope (see for example: Eric Kandel ).
The California Sea Hare is able to launch a defense against the enemy toxic ink, their toxins he wins eaten from the cyanobacteria ( blue-green algae ). A part of the cloud is called (though produced by the blue-green algae ) aplysiatoxin. The poison floats triggering scabies was detected in the blue-green algae genera Lyngbya, Oscillatoria and Schizothrix.