Aplysia brasiliana, common name

Common name

A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...

 the "mottled sea hare", or the "sooty sea hare", is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of sea hare or sea slug

Slug

Slug is a common name that is normally applied to any gastropod mollusc that lacks a shell, has a very reduced shell, or has a small internal shell...

, a marine

Marine (ocean)

Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...

 opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Aplysiidae

Aplysiidae

The superfamily Aplysioidea is a superfamily of mostly rather large sea slugs, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Aplysiomorpha within the informal group Opisthobranchia.This superfamily contains only one family, the Aplysiidae; the sea hares...

.

The binomial name is a junior synonym of Aplysia fasciata. There are different geographical populations of the same species.

Distribution

This sea hare occurs in the Western Atlantic from New Jersey to Brazil, and in the Eastern Atlantic including the coast of Ghana.