Hatchet sea hare (English spelling: hatchet sea hare)

Japanese: タツナミガイ(立浪貝) - タツナミガイ（英語表記）hatchet sea hare

A gastropod shell of the Aplysia family. It is found widely from the Boso Peninsula south to the tropical Pacific Ocean, living on sandy gravel bottoms covered with seaweed from the intertidal zone to shallow waters. It grows to over 20 cm in length and is elongated ovoid. Its body is brown to greenish brown with a cloud-like pattern. It thickens toward the rear, bulges on the back, and has many cone-shaped protrusions of various sizes. The left and right lobes are small and cannot swim, but they meet in the center of the back and have two dorsal openings, one in front and one in back, with the rear dorsal opening in the center of the circular section. When alive, seawater enters and exits through this opening. Inside the shell is a shell that is partially covered by a mantle membrane, and this shell has a standing wave shape, hence the name Tatsunamigai.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

アメフラシ科の巻貝。房総半島以南～熱帯太平洋に広く分布し，潮間帯から浅海の海藻の生えた砂れき底にすむ。体長20cm以上になり，長卵形。体は褐色～緑褐色で雲状の模様がある。後方へ太くなり背面は膨らみ多数の大小不同の円錐形の突起がある。左右両側葉は小さくて泳げないが，背面中央で接して前後二つの背孔が開き，後方の背孔は円形の区割りの中央にある。生きているときはここから海水が出入りする。その中に外套（がいとう）膜に一部覆われた貝殻があり，この形が立浪形をしているのでタツナミガイの名がある。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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