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Elysia chlorotica (common name the eastern emerald elysia) is a small-to-medium-sized species of green sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusc. This sea slug superficially resembles a nudibranch , yet it does not belong to that clade .
Elysia sea slugs graze on algae and some species such as E. viridis and E. chlorotica hijack the chloroplasts for themselves. The chloroplasts end up lining the slug's digestive tract, enabling the slugs to survive solely by photosynthesis for several months at a time.This association is crucial for the development and maturing of the slug.
A digestive tubule cell of the sea slug Elysia clarki, packed with chloroplasts taken from green algae. C = chloroplast, N = cell nucleus. Electron micrograph: scale bar is 3 μm. Kleptoplasty or kleptoplastidy is a process in symbiotic relationships whereby plastids, notably chloroplasts from algae, are sequestered by the host.
One species of Elysia feeds on a seasonally calcifying alga. Because it is unable to penetrate the calcified cell walls, the animal can only feed for part of the year, relying on the ingested chloroplasts to survive whilst the foodstuff is calcified, until later in the season when the calcification is lost and the grazing can continue. [9]
Elysia chlorotica, a solar-powered sea slug (2019 ... a gonochoristic (male-female obligate) species more closely related to C. briggsae than C. elegans [549] [550]
E. Elysia (gastropod) Elysia abei; Elysia amakusana; Elysia atroviridis; Elysia australis; Elysia bangtawaensis; Elysia catulus; Elysia chlorotica; Elysia crispata
Frank Ryan outlines in the book 'Virolution' (new edition: ISBN-10: 0007315120, chapter1, page 9) the life cycle of Elysia chloritica: - larvae search for one specific alga (Voucheria litorea), when found they attach firmly to it - the larvae then complete their metamorphosis to tiny slugs - the slugs immediately start to feed on the alga and manage to separate the chloroplasts and store them ...
Elysiidae was originally described as "Elysiadae" by Forbes & Hanley in 1851 in the book A history of British Mollusca and their Shells 3:613. In the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005), the family Elysiidae is considered to be a synonym of the family Plakobranchidae Gray, 1840.