Costasiella kuroshimae

Costasiella kuroshimae, also known as "leaf slug"[1] or "leaf sheep"[2], is a species of sacoglossan sea slug, a shell-less marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Costasiellidae.[3] They can grow up to 1 cm in length.

Costasiella kuroshimae
Costasiella cf. kuroshimae on Avrainvillea erecta. Locality: Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef. The length of the slug is about 1 cm.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Heterobranchia
informal group Opisthobranchia
clade Sacoglossa
clade Plakobranchacea
Superfamily:
Limapontioidea
Family:
Costasiellidae
Genus:
Costasiella
Species:
C. kuroshimae
Binomial name
Costasiella kuroshimae
Ichikawa, 1993

It performs kleptoplasty, which is the process of retaining the chloroplasts from the algae it feeds on so that it can use them to perform photosynthesis.

The type locality is Kuroshima, Taketomi, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands.[4]

  • A frontal picture of a Costasiella kuroshimae.
  • Costasiella kuroshimae taken in Secret Bay Anilao dive site, Batangas, Philippines

References
  1. "These Cute Sea Slugs Are The Sheep Of The Sea". IFLScience. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  2. Schelling, Ameena. "Sheep Of The Sea Are Cutest Slugs We've Ever Seen". The Dodo. Retrieved 2020-07-17.
  3. Bouchet, P. (2014). Costasiella kuroshimae Ichikawa, 1993. Accessed through World Register of Marine Species on 17 January 2015.
  4. Jensen K. R. (November 2007). "Biogeography of the Sacoglossa (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia)" Archived 2013-10-05 at the Wayback Machine. Bonner zoologische Beiträge 55(2006)(3-4): 255–281.
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