Life History

Aplysia have annual lifecyles and after hatching they will spend the first few months of their life in a plankton lifestyle (Pechenik 2010). It takes roughly 2 months before an individual can reach maturity and another 7 months to reach their peak breeding potential (Kriegstein, Castellucci & Kandel 1974). Mortality rates increase significantly after 7 motnhs, with few adults living much longer than 10 (Kriegstein, Castellucci & Kandel 1974). Development and growth rate in natural environments ca be affected by external factors such as dietary balance and average ambient temperatures, while those in laboratory conditions can be more carefully controlled to suite the researchers needs (Kriegstein, Castellucci & Kandel 1974). Species such as A. californica have been used extensively as research model organisms and as such a lot of work has gone into developing captive aquaculture methods. It is from these studies that we can obtain detailed life history records (such as represented in the diagram below) (Kriegstein, Castellucci & Kandel 1974).