Elysia Chlorotica
By: Marissa Ringwell
Taxonomy
• 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. chlorotica
Sacoglossa (sap sucking sea slug)
•
•
•
•
Belong to the clade Heterobranchia.
Some suck the sap out of the algae they eat.
They live by eating algae.
They are a shell less species
Where Can You Find Them?
• They are found along the eastern
coast of the United States, North of
Nova Scotia, Canada and South of
Southern Florida. You can find them
in salt and tidal marshes, shallow
creeks, and in pools with a depths
less than 0.5m.
Lifespan
• They live for about 10-11 months
Adaptations
• They can survive salinity levels of
nearly fresh water (0.5 PPT) and
brackish salt water (0.5-17 PPT)
• runs on solar power
Two Main Life Stages
• Juvenile Stage – the juvenile stage is before
the elysia chlorotica starts eating. Instead of
being green with small red dots it will be
brown with small red dots.
• Adult Stage – the Adult stage is when elysia
starts feeding on the algae and turns a bright
green color with red dots all over its body.
• Elysia runs on solar power, it
feeds on algae, and it
photosynthesizes with the genes
from the algae. They need
chloroplasts to be able to
convert sunlight into energy,
they get it from the algae it eats.
It stores the green cellular
objects in the cells that line its
guts. If the Elysia Chlorotica
feeds for two weeks it could
survive for the rest of its one 1011 Month life without eating.
Bibliography
• Wikipedia.com. (2013, January 27). Wikipedia.org.
Retrieved February 7, 2013, from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elysia_chlorotica
• Blanchet, C. (2013, February 1). Animal Diversity Web.
Retrieved February 1, 2013, from umich.edu:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Elysi
a_chlorotica/
• brahic, c. (2008, November 24). Life. Retrieved
February 1, 2013, from newscientist.com:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16124solarpowered-sea-slug-harnesses-stolen-plantgenes.html