I just wondered where I could learn more about the habits of sea hares and their egg laying. In another post I was told that a sea hare will die after laying eggs. So I have been waiting for mine to die since the first of July. Imagine my surprise when I found another bunch of eggs the first of August.
Sea Hare lays eggs again!
- Thread starter tinyfish
- Start date
Untamed12
New member
No...mine laid eggs probably a dozen times. It did eventually die, however. I believe that they start doing this as they reach the end of their lives, but not after a single batch.
Sea Hares do have a reputation for short lives due to eating all their food supply, but I had mine for a few years.
Sea Hares do have a reputation for short lives due to eating all their food supply, but I had mine for a few years.
First, it depends on the seahare that you have. Do you have a definitive ID on it? There is a species that has a life span of a few years, and Untamed may have been either smart enough to purposely purchase that species or lucky enough to purchase that species. Most other actual seahares have a natural life span of about a year. There are neurology labs that have kept them alive in captivity for more than 12 months, but that doesn't mean that most people will be able to. There are also other seaslugs that appear to be seahares but are not actually; they may or may not live for more than a year and may or may not breed and lay eggs throughout their lives.
I don't know if research has been done so that anyone can say definitively what cues a seahare to find a mate, breed, and lay eggs, but it appears that certain species seem to congregate to form mating chains or just congregate to facilitate mating -- where the cues are daylength, water temperature, lack or abundance of food, age -- I don't know. It could be that one of these things in your tank triggered your seahare to lay eggs (as infertile eggs are sometimes laid by seaslugs.)
But, more likely, the seahare was collected while in a congregation (as these often occur in shallow water, making collection easy), and the laying has to do with the normal course of events that would have happened in this seahare's life had it stayed in the wild. In the wild, the seahare would have likely already laid many additional egg strands, and may have already died; perhaps the lack of mates in your tank has slowed the process down for your seahare? I don't really know. What I can say is that it is likely that your seahare is nearing the end of its life. I'm sure that the person who originally told you about this just wanted you to inform you of this likely event so it did not catch you unaware (as we often see breeding as the result of the health of our captive animals, not as a death knell.) Enjoy your seahare for each additional day it lives, as they may be gifts.
I don't know if research has been done so that anyone can say definitively what cues a seahare to find a mate, breed, and lay eggs, but it appears that certain species seem to congregate to form mating chains or just congregate to facilitate mating -- where the cues are daylength, water temperature, lack or abundance of food, age -- I don't know. It could be that one of these things in your tank triggered your seahare to lay eggs (as infertile eggs are sometimes laid by seaslugs.)
But, more likely, the seahare was collected while in a congregation (as these often occur in shallow water, making collection easy), and the laying has to do with the normal course of events that would have happened in this seahare's life had it stayed in the wild. In the wild, the seahare would have likely already laid many additional egg strands, and may have already died; perhaps the lack of mates in your tank has slowed the process down for your seahare? I don't really know. What I can say is that it is likely that your seahare is nearing the end of its life. I'm sure that the person who originally told you about this just wanted you to inform you of this likely event so it did not catch you unaware (as we often see breeding as the result of the health of our captive animals, not as a death knell.) Enjoy your seahare for each additional day it lives, as they may be gifts.
fishkid6692
New member
do they hatch?
greenbean36191
Premium Member
There are few predators of the eggs since they are toxic or distasteful, so more than likely they just rotted and the strand fell apart. Since they're infertile, they won't hatch.
IIRC, you weren't told that the slug would die after laying eggs, but that there was a high likelihood, so it's something you should watch out for. There are two reasons for this. One is that sea hares, like a lot sea slugs will often lay eggs shortly before they die of starvation or from poor water quality. It's sort of a last ditch attempt to perpetuate the species. This is extremely common in captivity. Also, several species of sea hares form spawning aggregations, after which many (but not all) of the animals die. Unfortunately, since these aggregations can be very dense they're an easy target for collectors. Unfortunately, hobbyists don't realize that most of the slugs collected aren't long for this world. Again, they often lay eggs and then die shortly afterwards.
None of the sea hares are known to only lay a single clutch of eggs before they die, but that's commonly what's seen in captivity simply due to how they're collected and the environment we offer them. Obviously, that's not what's going on in your case. It seems that you have a healthy, well-fed animal, that's just got excess resources to put towards reproduction. I would not be surprised if it went on to live in excess of 2 years as long as you can continue to keep it well-fed.
IIRC, you weren't told that the slug would die after laying eggs, but that there was a high likelihood, so it's something you should watch out for. There are two reasons for this. One is that sea hares, like a lot sea slugs will often lay eggs shortly before they die of starvation or from poor water quality. It's sort of a last ditch attempt to perpetuate the species. This is extremely common in captivity. Also, several species of sea hares form spawning aggregations, after which many (but not all) of the animals die. Unfortunately, since these aggregations can be very dense they're an easy target for collectors. Unfortunately, hobbyists don't realize that most of the slugs collected aren't long for this world. Again, they often lay eggs and then die shortly afterwards.
None of the sea hares are known to only lay a single clutch of eggs before they die, but that's commonly what's seen in captivity simply due to how they're collected and the environment we offer them. Obviously, that's not what's going on in your case. It seems that you have a healthy, well-fed animal, that's just got excess resources to put towards reproduction. I would not be surprised if it went on to live in excess of 2 years as long as you can continue to keep it well-fed.
