Elysia viridis
| Sap-sucking slug | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A live individual of Elysia viridis on brown algae. | |
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| Four live individuals of Elysia viridis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura |
| Superfamily: | Plakobranchoidea |
| Family: | Plakobranchidae |
| Genus: | Elysia |
| Species: | E. viridis |
| Binomial name | |
| Elysia viridis (Montagu, 1804) | |
Elysia viridis, the sap-sucking slug, is a small-to-medium-sized species of green sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusc in the family Plakobranchidae.
This sea slug resembles a nudibranch, but it is not closely related to that clade 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 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.[1]
Ecology
This species lives in a subcellular endosymbiotic relationship with chloroplasts derived from the alga Codium fragile. These chloroplasts provide the Elysia host with the products of photosynthesis.[2][3][4] Elysia viridis feeds on Codium, and absorbs its chloroplasts. 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, though it is not yet clear to what extent photosynthetically derived sugars are significant in the slug's diet.
The egg mass is a flat greenish coil of several turns.[5]
References
- ↑ Zsilavecz, G. (2007). Nudibranchs of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay. ISBN 0-620-38054-3
- ↑ R.K. Trench, J.E. Boyle and D.C. Smith (1973). "The Association between Chloroplasts of Codium fragile and the Mollusc Elysia viridis. I. Characteristics of isolated Codium chloroplasts". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 184 (1074): 51–61. doi:10.1098/rspb.1973.0030.
- ↑ R.K. Trench, J.E. Boyle and D.C. Smith (1973). "The Association between Chloroplasts of Codium fragile and the Mollusc Elysia viridis. II. Chloroplast Ultrastructure and Photosynthetic Carbon Fixation in E. viridis". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 184 (1074): 63–81. doi:10.1098/rspb.1973.0031.
- ↑ R.K. Trench, J.E. Boyle and D.C. Smith (1974). "The Association between Chloroplasts of Codium Fragile and the Mollusc Elysia viridis. III. Movement of Photosynthetically Fixed 14C in Tissues of Intact Living E. viridis and in Tridachia crispata". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. 185 (1081): 453–464. doi:10.1098/rspb.1974.0029.
- ↑ GOSLINER, T.M. 1987. Nudibranchs of Southern Africa ISBN 0-930118-13-8
See also
External links
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