Elysia (gastropod)

Elysia is a genus of sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Plakobranchidae. These animals are colorful sea slugs, and they can superficially resemble nudibranchs, but are not very closely related to them. Instead they are sacoglossans, commonly known as sap-sucking slugs.[1]

Elysia
A live individual of Elysia ornata, head end towards the left
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Sacoglossa
clade Plakobranchacea
Superfamily:
Placobranchoidea
Family:
Plakobranchidae
Genus:
Elysia

Risso, 1818
Type species
Notarchus timidus Risso, 1818
Species

See text

Synonyms[1]
  • Actaeon Rang, 1829 (Not available from Oken, 1815)
  • Aplysiopterus Delle Chiaje, 1830
  • Checholysia Ortea, Caballer, Moro & Espinosa, 2005
  • Elysiella Verrill, 1872 (Invalid: junior homonym of Elysiella Bergh, 1871)
  • Elysiella Bergh, 1871
  • Pterogasteron Pease, 1860
  • Thallepus Swainson, 1840
  • Thridachia P. Fischer, 1883 (Unjustified emendation of Tridachia)
  • Tridachia Deshayes, 1857
  • Tridachiella MacFarland, 1924

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. Exactly how the slugs use the chloroplasts is unclear, as many of the proteins used are encoded in the genome of the host cell. These proteins, numbering in the hundreds, are manufactured in the cell’s nucleus, and then moved into the chloroplast, enabling it to survive.[2]

This genus was previously sometimes considered to be in the family Stiligeridae, and was also previously placed in the family Elysiidae.

Species

Species in the genus Elysia include:[1][3]

  • Elysia abei Baba, 1955
  • Elysia amakusana Baba, 1955
  • Elysia annedupontae Ortea, Caballer, Moro & Espinosa, 2005
  • Elysia asbecki Wagele, Stemmer, Burghardt & Handeler, 2010[4]
  • Elysia atroviridis Baba, 1955
  • Elysia australis (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832)
  • Elysia babai Pruvot-Fol, 1946
  • Elysia bangtawaensis Swennen, 1997
  • Elysia bella (Pease, 1860)
  • Elysia bengalensis Swennen, 2011
  • Elysia bennettae Thompson, 1973
  • Elysia canguzua Er. Marcus, 1955
  • Elysia catulus (Gould, 1870)
  • Elysia chilkensis Eliot, 1916
  • Elysia chitwa'' Er. Marcus, 1955
  • Elysia chlorotica Gould, 1870 - eastern emerald elysia, emerald elysia
  • Elysia clarki Pierce, Curtis, Massey, Bass, Karl & Finney, 2006
  • Elysia coodgeensis (Angas, 1864)
  • Elysia cornigera Nuttall, 1989
  • Elysia crispata Mørch, 1863 - lettuce slug
  • Elysia deborahae Ortea, Caballer, Moro & Espinosa, 2005
  • Elysia degeneri Ostergaard, 1955
  • Elysia diomedea (Bergh, 1894)
  • Elysia ellenae Ortea, Espinosa & Caballer, 2013
  • Elysia eugeniae Ortea & Esponosa, 2002
  • Elysia evelinae Marcus, 1957
  • Elysia expansa (O'Donoghue, 1924)
  • Elysia filicauda Jensen & Wells, 1990
  • Elysia flava Verrill, 1901
  • Elysia flavipunctata Ichikawa, 1993
  • Elysia flavomacula Jensen, 1990
  • Elysia furvacauda Burn, 1958
  • Elysia gordanae Thompson & Jaklin, 1988
  • Elysia grandifolia Kelaart, E.F. (1858)
  • Elysia grandis Bergh, 1872
  • Elysia haingsisiana Bergh, 1905
  • Elysia hamatanii Baba, 1957
  • Elysia hedgpethi Er. Marcus, 1961
  • Elysia hendersoni Eliot, 1899
  • Elysia hetta Perrone, 1990
  • Elysia hirasei Baba, 1955
  • Elysia japonica Eliot, 1913
  • Elysia jibacoaensis Ortea, Moro, Caballer & Espinosa, 2011
  • Elysia kushimotoensis Baba, 1957
  • Elysia leeanneae Caballer, Ortea & Espinosa, 2013
  • Elysia leucolegnote Jensen, 1990
  • Elysia lobata Gould, 1852
  • Elysia macnaei Marcus, 1982
  • Elysia manriquei Ortea & Moro, 2009
  • Elysia maoria Powell, 1937
  • Elysia marcusi (Marcus, 1972) - synonym: Bosellia marcusi Marcus, 1972[5]
  • Elysia margaritae Fez, 1962
  • Elysia mercieri (Pruvot-Fol, 1930)
  • Elysia minima Ichikawa, 1993
  • Elysia nealae Ostergaard, 1955
  • Elysia nigrocapitata Baba, 1957
  • Elysia nigropunctata (Pease, 1871)
  • Elysia nisbeti Thompson, 1977
  • Elysia obtusa Baba, 1938
  • Elysia oerstedii Mørch, 1859
  • Elysia orientalis Ortea, Moro, Caballer & Espinosa, 2011
  • Elysia ornata (Swainson, 1840) - ornate elysia
  • Elysia papillosa A. E. Verrill, 1901 - papillose elysia
  • Elysia patagonica Munian & Ortea, 1997
  • Elysia patina Ev. Marcus, 1980
  • Elysia pilosa Risbec, 1928
  • Elysia pratensis Ortea & Espinosa, 1996
  • Elysia punctata Kelaart, 1857
  • Elysia purchoni Thompson, 1977
  • Elysia pusilla Bergh, 1872 - synonym: Elysiella pusilla
  • Elysia rubeni Martín-Hervas, Carmona, Jensen, Licchelli, Vitale & Cervera, 2019
  • Elysia rufescens (Pease, 1871)
  • Elysia sarasuae Ortea, Moro, Caballer & Espinosa, 2011
  • Elysia scops Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967
  • Elysia serca Er. Marcus, 1955 - Caribbean seagrass elysia, seagrass elysia
  • Elysia setoensis Hamatani, 1968
  • Elysia siamensis Swennen, 1997
  • Elysia singaporensis Swennen, 2011
  • Elysia slimora Er. Marcus & Ev. Marcus, 1966
  • Elysia stylifera (Jensen, 1997)
  • Elysia subornata A. E. Verrill, 1901
  • Elysia sugashimae Baba, 1955
  • Elysia thompsoni Jensen, 1993
  • Elysia timida Risso, 1818
  • Elysia tokarensis Baba, 1957
  • Elysia tomentosa Jensen, 1997
  • Elysia translucens Pruvot-Fol, 1957
  • Elysia trilobata Heller & Thompson, 1983
  • Elysia trisinuata Baba, 1949
  • Elysia tuca Ev. Marcus and Er. Marcus, 1967
  • Elysia verrucosa Jensen, 1985
  • Elysia viridis (Montagu, 1804) - plant-sucking slug
  • Elysia vreelandae Marcus & Marcus, 1970
  • Elysia yaeyamana Baba, 1936
  • Elysia zuleicae Ortea & Espinosa, 2002
Species brought into synonymy
  • Elysia arena Carlson & Hoff, 1978: synonym of Pattyclaya arena (Carlson & Hoff, 1978)
  • Elysia bedeckta MacFarland, 1966: synonym of Elysia hedgpethi Er. Marcus, 1961
  • Elysia cauze scops Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967: synonym of Elysia scops Ev. Marcus & Er. Marcus, 1967
  • Elysia gracilis Risbec, 1928: synonym of Thuridilla gracilis (Risbec, 1928)
  • Elysia halimedae Macnae, 1954: synonym of Elysia pusilla (Bergh, 1871)
  • Elysia picta A. E. Verrill, 1901: synonym of Thuridilla picta (A. E. Verrill, 1901)
  • Elysia pruvotfolae Er. Marcus, 1957: synonym of Elysia crispata Mørch, 1863
  • Elysia schrammi Mörch, 1863: synonym of Elysia crispata Mørch, 1863
  • Elysia splendida Grube, 1861: synonym of Thuridilla hopei (Vérany, 1853)
  • Elysia thysanopoda Bergh, 1905: synonym of Thuridilla thysanopoda (Bergh, 1905)
  • Elysia vataae Risbec, 1928: synonym of Thuridilla vataae (Risbec, 1928)
  • Elysia verrilli Pruvot-Fol, 1946: synonym of Elysia crispata Mørch, 1863
Taxon inquirendum:
  • Elysia fezi Vilella, 1968
  • Elysia pruvotae Risbec, 1953
gollark: Probably.
gollark: Looks like I'll have all my slots free at some point on Halloween.
gollark: YES! My reds are back!
gollark: Suddenly realised I have two slots taken...
gollark: Isn't hunting it going to be horrible?

References
  1. Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2010). Elysia Risso, 1818. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=137928 on 2010-12-14
  2. BBC News item
  3. "Elysia". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  4. Wagele, H., Stemmer, K., Burghardt, I., & Handeler, K. (2010). "Two new sacoglossan sea slug species (Opisthobranchia, Gastropoda): Ercolania annelyleorum sp. nov. (Limapontioidea) and Elysia asbecki sp. nov. (Plakobranchoidea), with notes on anatomy, histology and biology." Zootaxa 2676 (2010): 1-28.
  5. Händeler K., Grzymbowski Y. P., Krug P. J. & Wägele H. (2009) "Functional chloroplasts in metazoan cells - a unique evolutionary strategy in animal life". Frontiers in Zoology 6: 28. doi:10.1186/1742-9994-6-28 PMID 19951407.

Further reading
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