Alias: sea slug

A general term for marine gastropods of the family Vitilidae (Posterobranchia). The shell degenerates into a flat plate, the antenna protrudes like a rabbit's ear, the body is smooth, or there are many protrusions. Feeding on large algae. For example, the sea rabbit dactylomela is 10 cm (4 inches) long and lives in shallow water.

Sea rabbits have naked gills. It is a special member of the mollusk family, and its shell degenerates into small bone pieces buried in the mantle. Sea rabbits are small in size, generally only 10 cm in length and 130 g in weight. Sea rabbits are not mammals, and there is no fur outside. It belongs to Gastropoda of Mollusca. But it is different from common gastropods (such as abalone, snail, snail): it has no calcareous shell, and only a thin and translucent horny membrane covers the body (this is the same as the slug, so it is also called sea slug). The body is oval and will deform when exercising.

Sea rabbits are not rabbits. Sea rabbits have pricked up their ears (actually tentacles) and look like rabbits. Their heads are in tandem, but they have no hair. It has two pairs of antennas, and the antenna at the back is longer. When it is motionless, it looks like a small white rabbit squatting on the ground with a pair of big ears, so it was first called a sea rabbit by the Romans. After being recognized by the world, the sea rabbit got its name. The Japanese call it "Rain Tiger". It belongs to mollusks and gastropods. Two pairs of tentacles with clear division of labor on the head of the sea rabbit, the front pair is slightly shorter and specializes in touching; The back couple is a little longer. When the sea rabbit crawls on the bottom of the sea, a pair of antennae at the back are separated into a figure of eight and extend obliquely forward to smell the surrounding smell. When resting, the tentacles immediately come together and go straight up, just like the two long ears of a rabbit.

There are many kinds of sea rabbits, the common ones are "black-fingered sea rabbits", "blue-spotted back anal sea rabbits" and "spotted sea rabbits". The feet of sea rabbits are quite wide, the leaves on both sides are well developed, and the back side of the feet extends to the back. Usually, sea rabbits crawl on the beach or underwater with their feet and swim a short distance with their feet.

Sea rabbits are mollusks, belonging to shellfish living in shallow waters. However, the shell has degenerated into a thin and transparent horny shell without spiral, which is buried under the posterior mantle and cannot be seen from the outside.

Sea rabbits like to live in an environment with clear sea water, gentle water flow and algae, and feed on various algae. It has a very special ability to avoid enemies, that is, it turns into algae of whatever color it eats. For example, sea rabbits that eat red algae are rosy, and sea rabbits that eat fucoidan are brown-green. Some sea rabbits also have fluffy dendritic protrusions on their body surfaces, which makes the shape, color and pattern of sea rabbits very similar to the algae in their habitats, thus avoiding a lot of troubles and dangers for themselves.

Sea rabbits can not only passively avoid enemies, but also actively defend themselves. Sea rabbits have two kinds of glands, one is called purple gland, which is born under the mantle edge. When it meets an enemy, it can release a large amount of purplish red liquid and dye the surrounding seawater purple, thus avoiding the enemy's sight. There is also a poisonous gland in the front of the mantle, which can secrete a slightly acidic milky liquid with an unpleasant smell. If the other party comes into contact with this liquid, it will be poisoned, injured or even killed. So the enemy will stay away when they smell this smell. This is a chemical weapon against the enemy.

Spring is the breeding season of sea rabbits, and hermaphroditic sea rabbits are fertilized by allogamy. The mating method of sea rabbits is very special: generally, 35 to 10 rabbits are mated in a string. At this time, the front sea rabbit acts as a female, the back one acts as a male, the middle one acts as a male in front of it, and the back one acts as a female. This mating time lasts for a long time. Oviposition occurs during mating or several hours after separation. A lot of eggs were laid, but few eggs could hatch, all of which were wrapped in strips of colloidal silk. The coastal area of Guangdong is called "seafood vermicelli", which is a nutritious food and a good medicine for diminishing inflammation and clearing heat.