Could GIANT SLUGS Help the Coral Reef?

Some of you may be aware than I travelled up to Heron Island fairly recently for a university field trip, part of a marine conservation/ecology course. Heron Island, situated at the far south of the Great Barrier Reef, is an amazing place. It’s picturesque, encircled by stunning coral reefs within metres of the shore, and has more centipedes than anywhere else I’ve ever been, except for my own room. Myself, and a group of my peers, were investigating an intriguing group of animals called the Sea Hares. More precisely, we were studying the feeding preferences of the species Dolabella auricularia. We also encountered many Aplysia argus on the reef flats.

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Midnight Tale by Kevin MacLeod
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Village Ambiance by Alexander Nakarada
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"Teller of the Tales" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
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References:

Clarke, C. 2004. The Ecological Role of Sea Hares (Opisthobranchia: Anaspidea) Within Tropical Intertidal Habitats. Thesis for Masters of Science by Research, School of Marine Biology & Aquaculture, James Cook University.

Pennings, S. C., Nadeau, M. T., and Paul, V. J. 1993. Selectivity and growth of the generalist herbivore Dolabella auricularia feeding upon complementary resources. Ecology 74(3) 879-890.

Pennings, S. C. and Paul, V. J. 1992. Effect of plant toughness, calcification, and chemistry on herbivory by Dolabella auricularia. Ecology 73(5) 1606-1619.

Glynn, P. W., Enochs, I. C., McCosker, J. E. and Graefe, A. N. 2008. First Record of a Pearlfish, Carapus mourlani, Inhabiting the Aplysiid Opisthobranch Mollusc Dolabella auricularia. Pacific Science 62(4) 593-601.

Monteil, Y., Teo, A., Fong, J., Bauman, A. G., Todd, P. A. 2020. Effect of macroalgae on coral fecundity in a degraded coral reef system. Marine Pollution Bulletin 151.

Bruno, J. F., Precht, W. F., Vroom, P. S., Aronson, R. B. 2014. Coral reef baselines: How much macroalgae is natural? Marine Pollution Bulletin 80(1-2) 24-29.

Moreira, A. L. P. and Rosa, I. L. 2014. First record of consumption of adult sea hare by parrotfish in the South Atlantic. Marine Biodiversity Records 7.

Barile, P. J., Lapointe, B. E., Capo, T. R. 2004. Dietary nitrogen availability in macroalgae enhances growth of the sea hare Aplysia californica (Opisthobranchia: Anaspidea). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 303(1) 65-78.

Nimbs, M. J., Willan, R. C., Smith, S. D. A. 2017. A Historical Summary of the Distribution and Diet of Australian Sea Hares (Gastropoda: Heterobranchia: Aplysiidae). Zoological Studies 56(35).