Elysia chlorotica

Introduction

Elysia chlorotica(or the eastern emerald elysia) is a type of sea slug that can do photosynthesis. Elysia chlorotica had been found in salt marshes and ponds off the coast of the eastern states and in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Life cycle and Morphology

Development stages of Elysia chlorotica

Elysia chlorotica is small sized sea slug. The adult individual are around 3~5 centimeters long. An Elysia chlorotica has two stages of development: juvenile and adult stages, which can be distinguish by its morphology and coloring. During juvenile stage, newly hatched E. chlorotica are usually translucent brown, with few red spots on their bodies. This stage remains until the initial feeding on algae. The E. chlorotica obtains chloroplast from the algae, preserving in its special digestive tract. The presence of chloroplast gradually turns the body color into bright green, and lost red spots.Elysid refers to the adult slug’s leaf-like shape which is caused by two large lateral parapodia on either side of its body. This morphology is beneficial as both camouflage and allowing the slug to be more efficient at photosynthesis. Other members of this family are distinguished by their parapodia in addition to bright coloring.

Kleptoplasty

Kleptoplasty is a special symbiosis behavior that the chloroplast uptake by algal prey can remain temporarily function in the organism, which allows an animal doing photosynthesis like plants. A typical species in the clade Sacoglass

References

Rumpho, M. E., J. M. Worful, J. Lee, K. Kannan, M. S. Tyler, D. Bhattacharya, A. Moustafa, and J. R. Manhart. 2008. “Horizontal Gene Transfer of the Algal Nuclear Gene PsbO to the Photosynthetic Sea Slug Elysia Chlorotica.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105 (46): 17867–71. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0804968105.

Edited by Hao Yang, student of Joan Slonczewski,2021,Kenyon College.