MOTHER NATURE NETWORK– It looks like any other sea slug, aside from its bright green hue. But
the Elysia chlorotica is far from ordinary: it is both a plant and an
animal, according to biologists who have been studying the species for two decades.
Not only does E. chlorotica turn sunlight into energy — something only plants can do — it also appears to have swiped this ability from the algae it consumes.
Native to the salt marshes of New England and Canada, these sea slugs use contraband chlorophyll-producing genes and cell parts called chloroplasts from algae to carry out photosynthesis, says Sidney Pierce, a biologist at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
That genetic material has since been passed down to the next generation, eliminating the need to consume algae for energy.
However, the baby slugs can’t carry out photosynthesis until they’ve stolen their own chloroplasts, which they aren’t yet able to produce on their own, from their first and only meal of algae.
Continue reading about Bizarre Sea Slug is Half Plant, Half Animal.
© Mother Nature Network, 2010
Photo by Nicholas E. Curtis and Ray Martinez
