Life Cycle
Like all sea hares, the California sea hare is hermaphroditic, acting as male and female simultaneously during mating. Aplysia is known to form mating chains with up to 20 animals, thus each animal can serve as male and female at the same time. The eggs are yellow-green, and change after 8 to 9 days into a brown color before larvae hatch. Mating is most prominent during the summer month following the rise of the water temperature to 17 degrees Celsius. Aplysia has a generation time of 19 weeks: Day 1-37 after hatching from the egg planktonic stage, day 34-37 Metamorphic stage, day 45-80 juvenile stage (35 days in total). Reproductive maturity is reached 85 days after hatching (133 days after deposition of the fertilized eggs). The development of the nervous system lasts for a total of 140 days The life span is assumed to be around a year, yet older animals have been found. Cooler temperature delays spawning and has been shown to extend the lifespan.
Read more about this topic: California Sea Hare
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