''Elysia viridis'', the sap-sucking slug, is a small-to-medium-sized
species of green
sea slug, a
marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
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* ...
opisthobranch
Opisthobranchs () is now an informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping.
Euopisth ...
gastropod
The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...
mollusc
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...
in the
family Plakobranchidae.
This sea slug resembles a
nudibranch, but it is not closely related to that
clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
of gastropods. It is instead a
sacoglossan.
Distribution
This species lives in the northeastern
Atlantic, from
Norway to the
Mediterranean Sea as well as all around the South African coast. It is found from the
intertidal zone
The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species o ...
to a depth of about 5 m.
Description
The animal grows up to 30 mm in total length. It has a smooth bright green or brown body with iridescent spots and two wing-like flaps extending along its sides. These flaps are usually folded back. The
rhinophores are rolled.
Ecology
This species lives in a
subcellular
The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of life forms. Every cell consists of a cytoplasm enclosed within a membrane, and contains many biomolecules such as proteins, DNA and RNA, as well as many small molecules of nutrients and ...
endosymbiotic relationship with
chloroplast
A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant and algal cells. The photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight, converts it, and stores it in ...
s derived from the
alga ''
Codium fragile
''Codium fragile'', known commonly as green sea fingers, dead man's fingers, felty fingers,
Intertidal ...
''. These chloroplasts provide the ''Elysia'' host with the products of
photosynthesis. ''Elysia viridis'' feeds on ''Codium'', and absorbs its
chloroplast
A chloroplast () is a type of membrane-bound organelle known as a plastid that conducts photosynthesis mostly in plant and algal cells. The photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight, converts it, and stores it in ...
s. The term for such an activity is
kleptoplasty. The slug retains the chloroplasts within in its cells in a functioning state; they apparently are physiologically important to the host. In addition, the slugs likely rely on photosynthesis of the chloroplasts as an energy source, especially when other food sources are not available.
The egg mass is a flat greenish coil of several turns.
[GOSLINER, T.M. 1987. ''Nudibranchs of Southern Africa'' ]
See also
* ''
Elysia chlorotica''
* ''
Elysia clarki''
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q178260
Plakobranchidae
Gastropods described in 1804