Elysia pusilla

Elysia pusilla is a species of small sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Plakobranchidae. It is a sacoglossan.

Elysia pusilla
Elysia pusilla
Elysia pusilla about 1 cm in length
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Sacoglossa
clade Plakobranchacea
Superfamily:
Plakobranchoidea
Family:
Plakobranchidae
Genus:
Elysia
Species:
E. pusilla
Binomial name
Elysia pusilla
(Bergh, 1872)[1]
Synonyms

Elysiella pusilla Bergh, 1872

Elysia pusilla feeds on the calcified green alga Halimeda and incorporates functioning chloroplasts into its body, thus it is known as a solar-powered sea slug. It is found in shallow water in tropical regions of the Indo-Pacific wherever its host species grows.

Description

Elysia pusilla is a cryptic sea slug which grows to about 3 centimetres (1.2 in) long. Its colour and shape both match that of the alga on which it is feeding; on older foliage it is flattened and a mottled pale green, on fresh new growth it is a brighter shade of green and on the cylindrical shoots that sometimes develop, it adopts a more circular cross section.[2]

gollark: Hmm, I'm not sure if derp can actually use <#471334670483849216>.
gollark: Technically, yes.
gollark: Compared to what other times, mass extinctions?
gollark: There might be. No other ones with life are known, let alone earthlike life.
gollark: I mean, ~~it~~ temperature's been going up very fast and carbon dioxide also has, so not really.Also, there isn't oil in space, it's derived from biological processes ages ago on Earth.

See also

References
  1. Bergh, L.S.R. (1872). Malacologische Untersuchungen. In: C.G. Semper, Reisen im Archipel der Philippinen, Wissenschaftliche Resultate. Band 2, Heft 3: 137-176, Pls. 17-20.
  2. Elysiella pusilla The Sea Slug Forum. Retrieved 2012-01-22.

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