A large number of alien-like sea creatures washing up on several beaches of Australia have been making headlines this morning after beachgoers posted bizarre pictures.
Associate Professor Bill Bateman, a leading expert on animal populations from Curtin University in Perth explains what these ocean creatures are:
“Aplysia, or sea hares, may look like aliens but they are gastropod molluscs, closely related to garden snails. These strandings may be part of a mass die-off after a mating event. Aplysia are hermaphrodites (both male and female) and will form mating bundles, exchanging sperm and producing spawn masses – for some species, that’s the end; they die and wash up on beaches.
As many Aplysia like shallow water, mass die-offs can also be caused by spikes in water temperature. If you see washed up Aplysia don’t let your dogs lick them as they can have toxins derived from their algae food.
One very cool thing about Aplysia is that they can autotomise their whole body and survive – just like lizards dropping their tails to escape a predator, Aplysia can drop their whole body, and crawl off as just a head. They can then grow a whole new body.”
