If you squint your eyes and focus on a spot far in the distance, if you stand on one foot and don’t really think about it, I guess you could say that Dolabrifera brazieri does look a bit like a hare. These marine animals have been known as sea hares since classical times due to their appearance being somewhat rabbit-like.
Sure, the top pair of enrolled tentacles, known as rhinophores, sitting just behind the tiny, googly-looking eyes, do resemble bunny ears. Although I get more of a Shrek vibe from these leathery creatures. They even tend to take on a green tinge as they munch, like cows chewing cud, on the algae in local tide pools. These rhinophores are the main chemosensory organ, helping the sea hare to ‘smell’ out food and toxins in the water, while the tentacles on either side of the mouth assist it to feel its way around. There is, after all, a lot of objects to bump into in rock pools!
Admittedly, there is something reassuring about discovering one of these flattened sea hares on my rock pool wanders. Firstly, it shows that my eyes are still functioning well enough. They camouflage exceptionally well with the mottled yellows, greens and browns of the surrounding algae.
But there’s also just something so comforting, for me at least, that the world does indeed go on. Whether I’m there to witness it or not, these creatures will be there, sliding under rock shelves and over again, nibbling away as they go.
Surprisingly, these sea hares are kind of flat. I don’t know what you think of when you think of sea hares, if you think of them at all of course, but chunky sea hares that use their parapodia like wings to almost ‘fly’ through the water, come to mind for me.
In D. brazieri the parapodia are much reduced and enclosed so there’s no flying with this species and instead their flattened appearance is thought to offer them streamlining so that they are less likely to be washed away as the waves crash over the intertidal pools. Hmmm, as someone who has battled more than one wave in my time, streamlining does not sound like a bad idea at all.
To see these incredible creatures for yourself, have a wander around the rock pools at Sandon Point, to the right of the boat sheds, for your best chance. Good luck!