Elysia pusilla
| Elysia pusilla | |
|---|---|
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| Elysia pusilla | |
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| Elysia pusilla about 1 cm in length | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura |
| Superfamily: | Plakobranchoidea |
| Family: | Plakobranchidae |
| Genus: | Elysia |
| Species: | E. pusilla |
| Binomial name | |
| Elysia pusilla (Bergh, 1872)[1] | |
| Synonyms | |
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Elysiella pusilla Bergh, 1872 | |
Elysia pusilla is a species of small sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Plakobranchidae. It is a sacoglossan.
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]
See also
References
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Elysiella pusilla The Sea Slug Forum. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elysia pusilla. |