#anaspidea

Pteropoda. This order, whose name means wing-foot, is made up of free-swimming sea snails and slugs, such as sea angels and sea butterflies

Anaspidea. This order is made up of sea hares, large marine gastropods so-called because their rhinophores resemble the ears of a hare.

Why Neuroscientists Love Kinky Sea Slugs

Photos: Niroot Phuket & Phuket Lifeguard Service on Phuket News

Thailand: Mass sea slug beachings at Phuket By Nuppol Suvansombut, 8th March 2016;

Phuket residents have discovered hundreds of sea slugs washed up on the beach in Kratoo district. Marine biologists have speculated that beachings could have been caused by higher sea temperatures.

Mr. Supasit Boonpienpol, a marine biologist from the Phuket Marine Biological Center, said the sea slugs found at Kamala beach were not poisonous. He suspects that sea pollution and rising water temperatures could have forced these animals to swim closer to the beach before meeting their end.

Kratoo district sheriff Sayan Chanachaiwong and officials from related agencies visited the beach to observe the animals. Mr. Supasit has collected some of these slugs and taken samples of seawater and sand to the laboratory to determine the cause of death.

The mass sea slug beachings have not deterred tourists. Many continued to relax on the beach and go for a swim.

Source:

'Sea Hare' is a direct translation from the Latin lepus marinus.

Pictures of the Sea Hares quickly spread on social media sites.

More than a million of the sea hares were found this morning on Kamala Beach.

Photos: Niruj Kamala

Thailand: More than 1 million sea slugs wash onto Phuket beach By Kongleaphy Keam, 7th March 2016;

Marine experts are attempting to understand why more than a million sea slugs washed up on a Phuket beach this morning.

The name 'sea slug' is a common name used specifically for gastropods that are not shell-bearing or appear not to be shell-bearing. Experts believe that the sea slugs found on Kamala Beach are, in fact, Sea Hares. However, they have yet to determine the exact species.

"Adult sea hares are mostly large, bulky creatures. Juveniles are usually not noticed along the shoreline," said Kongkiat Kittiwattanawong from the Phuket Marine Biological Center (PMBC). "However, that doesn't appear to be the case here."

'Sea Hare' is a direct translation from the Latin lepus marinus, which is derived from their rounded shape and from the two long rhinophores that project upwards from their heads, thought to look similar to the ears of a hare.

"A team was sent up there to collect samples of both the animals and the seawater to determine exactly what has caused this," said Charatsee Aungtonya, a marine expert from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) Region 5.

Officials at the PMBC and the DMCR Region 5 were made aware of the situation after local social media networks became abuzz with pictures of the tiny marine creatures on the shore of Kamala.

Source: Phuket Gazette

The tentacled creatures are nothing more than harmless sea slugs, say local marine life experts. Photos: Niroot Phuket & Phuket Lifeguard Service

Thailand: Phuket officials give all clear after sea slug beach scare By Tanyaluk Sakoot, 7th March 2016;

Local marine life experts have confirmed that the slew of odd-looking tentacled creatures that washed ashore at Kamala Beach this morning (Mar 7) are nothing more than harmless sea slugs.

The alarm was raised as scores of the slugs were found washed up on the beach this morning, with many people posting photos of the creatures and asking if they were dangerous.

"They are not dangerous to people on the beach, and they're not dangerous to people in water," confirmed Suphasit Boonpienpon, of the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC).

"They're just sea slugs, but I have no idea why they have washed up on the beach," he said.

"And so far we have only received reports of them washing up here, at Kalama Beach," he said on location early this afternoon.

Mr Suphasit said he and fellow researchers had collected specimens to analyse at the PMBC research centre.

"We also collected samples of the sea water. Hopefully, we will figure out why these slugs washed ashore specifically during this week," he said.

Source: Phuket News