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Eastern Emerald Elysia

Elysia chlorotica Gould 1870

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Members of this family are often brightly colored such as the Elysia picta which is known as the painted elysia. The main body of the painted elysia is green but laterally there are vivid bands of orange, blue, and neon green. The brown lined elysia, Elysia subornata has a bright green body and parapodia but also has a thin brown line along the very edge of its’ wing-like structures.

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
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Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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Karen Francl, Radford University
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Kiersten Newtoff, Radford University
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Melissa Whistleman, Radford University
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Renee Mulcrone, Special Projects
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Associations

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There are no known predators of E. chlorotica. The leaf like structure of its appearance allows it to blend amongst the algae and plants of its marine habitat.

Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
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Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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Karen Francl, Radford University
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Kiersten Newtoff, Radford University
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Melissa Whistleman, Radford University
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Renee Mulcrone, Special Projects
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Morphology

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Elysia chlorotica has two main life stages: a juvenile stage which is defined as the time before the slug begins feeding on V. litorea, and an adult stage. The stages of development are distinguishable based on the slug’s morphology and coloring. The slugs start as veliger larva, meaning they are equipped with a shell and ciliated vellum used for swimming and obtaining food. After metamorphosing to juveniles, the slugs are normally brown with ventrally-located spots of red pigmentation. Elysia chlorotica only undergoes metamorphosis into the adult phase after exposure to and consumption of V. litorea, at which time its coloring and morphology also change. After the initial feeding, E. chlorotica sequesters chloroplasts obtained from the plant into its specialized digestive tract. The presence of the chloroplasts turns the slug from brown to bright green. Most adults lose the red spots. The green color persists only as long as the slug has functional chloroplasts in its cells. When the chloroplasts are expelled, the slug loses its bright green color and reverts to a gray color. Adults normally range in size from 20 to 30 mm but specimens of up to 60 mm have been documented. The eastern emerald elsyia obtains its name from its adult structure. 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.

Range length: 20 to 60 mm.

Average length: 30 mm.

Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; heterothermic ; bilateral symmetry

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
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Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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Karen Francl, Radford University
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Kiersten Newtoff, Radford University
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Melissa Whistleman, Radford University
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Renee Mulcrone, Special Projects
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Life Expectancy

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Elysia chlorotica lives to be approximately 11 months old. Adults experience mass death after laying their string of eggs in the spring of each year both in the wild and when held in captivity. According to research done by Pierce this may be due to a viral expression not a biological clock. That means that although this death is synchronized among all adults it is due to the final stage of a disease that every slug inherits not an internal biological cue. Pierce et al. (1984) were unable to identify the pathogen but did find evidence of virulent DNA in the nucleus of all test subjects.

Average lifespan
Status: wild:
11 months.

Average lifespan
Status: captivity:
11 months.

Average lifespan
Status: wild:
11 months.

Average lifespan
Status: captivity:
11 months.

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
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Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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Karen Francl, Radford University
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Kiersten Newtoff, Radford University
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Melissa Whistleman, Radford University
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Renee Mulcrone, Special Projects
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Habitat

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Elysia chlorotica is found in salt and tidal marshes, shallow creeks, and pools with depths of less than 0.5 m. The eastern sea slug is the most euryhaline osmoconformer known to date. The slug can survive salinity levels ranging from nearly fresh water (~24 mosm) to brackish salt water (~2422 mosm). Elysia chlorotica is generally found close to its main food source, Vaucheria litorea, an intertidal alga. The slug has an obligate relationship with the alga for both nutrients and physical development.

Range depth: 0 to 0.5 m.

Habitat Regions: saltwater or marine

Aquatic Biomes: coastal ; brackish water

Wetlands: marsh

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
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Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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Karen Francl, Radford University
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Kiersten Newtoff, Radford University
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Melissa Whistleman, Radford University
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Renee Mulcrone, Special Projects
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Distribution

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Elysia chlorotica, commonly known as the eastern emerald elysia, is found along the eastern coast of the United States, as far north as Nova Scotia, Canada and as south as southern Florida.

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); atlantic ocean (Native )

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
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Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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Karen Francl, Radford University
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Kiersten Newtoff, Radford University
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Melissa Whistleman, Radford University
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Renee Mulcrone, Special Projects
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Trophic Strategy

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Elysia chlorotica is a kleptoplastic member of the clade Sacoglossa, which are sap sucking sea slugs. This species feeds exclusively on V. litorea, and rarely feed upon Vaucheria compacta. The slug has an obligate relationship with its food source, requiring it for metamorphosis from the veliger to juvenile to the adult stage.

As an adult, E. chlorotica obtains nutrients by consuming chloroplast cells from the alga. Elysia chlorotica removes the chloroplast cells from the plant by projecting its radula, a scraping structure into the alga’s cell walls, and then sucking out the contents of V. litorea cells. The contents of these cells pass through the slug’s highly specialized digestive tract. Over time the chloroplast cells are sequestered into the diverticula of the slug’s digestive system, causing it to turn bright green. After the digestive tract projects green coloration, E. chlorotica is fully capable of photosynthesis for up to 10 months. Due to the slug’s photosynthetic nature, this species can often be found “sun bathing”, or laying with their parapodia extended to obtain maximum sunlight exposure.

Plant Foods: sap or other plant fluids

Primary Diet: herbivore (Algivore, Eats sap or other plant foods)

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
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Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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Karen Francl, Radford University
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Kiersten Newtoff, Radford University
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Melissa Whistleman, Radford University
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Renee Mulcrone, Special Projects
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Associations

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Elysia chlorotica has little impact on the environment because they are not predators of animals and are not known to be a prey of choice for any particular species. They interact with Vaucheria litorea, as all juveniles must feed on these plants before metamorphosis can occur.

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
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Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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Karen Francl, Radford University
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Kiersten Newtoff, Radford University
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Melissa Whistleman, Radford University
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Renee Mulcrone, Special Projects
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Benefits

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Although Elysia chlorotica does not directly benefit humans, members of the scientific community are very interested in this sea slug. Many studies about how this animal not only obtains the chloroplast from its algal food supply but also how they are able to maintain and utilize the complex structures. This species contains the blueprints to many of the required components of photosynthesis in their genome before even ingesting the chloroplasts of Vaucheria litorea.

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
author
Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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Karen Francl, Radford University
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Kiersten Newtoff, Radford University
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Melissa Whistleman, Radford University
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Renee Mulcrone, Special Projects
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Benefits

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There are no known negative effects to humans from Elyisa chlorotica.

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
author
Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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Karen Francl, Radford University
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Kiersten Newtoff, Radford University
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Melissa Whistleman, Radford University
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Renee Mulcrone, Special Projects
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Life Cycle

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The blastula of a developing Elysia chlorotica egg is holoblastic and spiral, meaning the eggs completely divide. At division, each plane is at an oblique angle to the animal's vegetal axis. Cells produce multiple tiers of cells with no clear center; this is referred to as a stereoblastula. Movements of cells occur by a process referred to as epiboly. Epiboly means that during development the ectoderm cells spread out to cover both the mesoderm and endoderm cell layers.

Elysia chlorotica has a veliger, juvenile, and adult stage of life. As a veliger larva, E. chlorotica has a shell and ciliated vellum, a common feature among a sea slug's developmental cycle. During the larval stage these cilia help the larva to swim in its aquatic environment. Coloration in the larva is different due to the lack of retained chloroplasts in their diverticula. Diverticula are essentially openings along the digestive tract that result in small pocket in which an animal can store food, or in this case stolen chloroplasts. Veligers will metamorphose into juveniles in one to two days after exposure to V. litorea. After 14 days of exposure to V. litorea and an additional two days of constant contact with this plant, E. chlorotica metamorphoses into the adult leaf-shaped sea slug. The adult sea slug is bright green in color due to chloroplast cells that have been sequestered into the complex diverticula of the animal. Adults die shortly after they lay their string of eggs. Researcher Sidney Pierce suggests mass death is due to the expression of an unknown retro acting virus.

Development - Life Cycle: metamorphosis

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
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Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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Karen Francl, Radford University
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Kiersten Newtoff, Radford University
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Melissa Whistleman, Radford University
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Renee Mulcrone, Special Projects
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Conservation Status

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Elyisa chlorotica has no special status at this time. Populations are not in decline.

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

State of Michigan List: no special status

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
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Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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Karen Francl, Radford University
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Kiersten Newtoff, Radford University
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Melissa Whistleman, Radford University
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Renee Mulcrone, Special Projects
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Behavior

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Little information is known on the techniques used by this species to communicate. Since the communication techniques of other sea slugs is variable, it is difficult to compare other species with E. chlorotica. The slug's eyes are not very developed.

Communication Channels: tactile

Other Communication Modes: pheromones ; vibrations

Perception Channels: tactile ; vibrations ; chemical

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
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Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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Karen Francl, Radford University
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Kiersten Newtoff, Radford University
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Melissa Whistleman, Radford University
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Renee Mulcrone, Special Projects
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Reproduction

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The details of how E. chlorotica initiates mating and the techniques used during mating are not well known. In a similar species, the mating behaviors of Elysia timida are dependent on the responses generated by the potential partner. These slugs will approach each other head to head and feel the other’s head with their own. Then, one (no way of telling how they decide which begins to move) will proceed downward moving their head down along the other slug’s body. If the partner accepts the invitation to mate the slugs will align head to tail. When the proper alignment is established, mating begins where both slugs insert their penes into the other’s genital area.

Sexually reproducing hermaphrodites may act only as female or male. Sperm are less costly than eggs, so functioning as a male may be more desirable energetically. Many species of sea slugs within the clade Sacoglossa practice hypodermic insemination, in which the sperm of one slug is injected directly into the surface of another slug. They penetrate directly into the mate’s body in the general area of the others gonads and release the sperm directly inside their partner.

Mating System: polygynandrous (promiscuous)

These slugs are simultaneous hermaphrodites, capable of internal self-fertilization, although this particular species more commonly outcrosses. Out-crossing is essential sexual reproduction with another individual. Eggs are laid in long mucous-laden strings, hatching approximately in a week. The eastern emerald elysia breeds once a year in the early spring.

Breeding interval: Once annually

Breeding season: Early spring

Range gestation period: 7 to 8 days.

Average gestation period: 7 days.

Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; simultaneous hermaphrodite; sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); oviparous

There are no documented incidents of parental care or investment in this species. Adults experience mass death both in natural and laboratory environments at approximately eleven months old. Pierce et al. (1984)suggest this is due to a viral expression, but little evidence exists.

Parental Investment: no parental involvement; pre-fertilization (Provisioning)

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Blanchet, C. 2012. "Elysia chlorotica" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed April 27, 2013 at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Elysia_chlorotica.html
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Chelsea Blanchet, Radford University
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One Species at a Time Podcast

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Come one, come all! See the amazing, the astonishing, half-animal, half-plant! Journey to Tampa Bay, Florida, where scientist Skip Pierce and one of his students first made a remarkable discovery twenty years ago. Meet Elysia chlorotica, a bright green, solar-powered, algae-slurping sea slug that’s still turning our understanding of the classification of life upside down.

Listen to the podcast on the Learning + Education section of the Encyclopedia of Life.

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Elysia chlorotica

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Elysia chlorotica (common name the eastern emerald elysia) is a small-to-medium-sized species of green sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusc. This sea slug superficially resembles a nudibranch, yet it does not belong to that clade. Instead it is a member of the clade Sacoglossa, the sap-sucking sea slugs. Some members of this group use chloroplasts from the algae they eat for photosynthesis, a phenomenon known as kleptoplasty. Elysia chlorotica is one species of such "solar-powered sea slugs". It lives in a subcellular endosymbiotic relationship with chloroplasts of the marine heterokont alga Vaucheria litorea.

Distribution

Elysia chlorotica can be found along the east coast of the United States, including the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Rhode Island, Florida, (east Florida and west Florida) and Texas. They can also be found as far north as Nova Scotia, Canada.[1]

Ecology

This species is most commonly found in salt marshes, tidal marshes, pools and shallow creeks, at depths of 0 m to 0.5 m.[1]

Description

Adult Elysia chlorotica are usually bright green in color owing to the presence of Vaucheria litorea chloroplasts in the cells of the slug's digestive diverticula. Since the slug does not have a protective shell or any other means of protection, the green color obtained from the algae also functions as a camouflage against predators.[2] By taking on the green color from the chloroplasts of the algal cells, the slugs are able to blend in with the sea bed, helping them improve their chances of survival and fitness. However, they can occasionally appear reddish or greyish in colour, which is thought to depend on the amount of chlorophyll in the branches of the digestive gland throughout the body.[3] This species can also have very small red or white spots scattered over the body.[3] A juvenile, prior to feeding on algae, is brown with red pigment spots due to the absence of chloroplasts.[4] Elysia chlorotica have a typical elysiid shape with large lateral parapodia which can fold over to enclose the body. Elysia chlorotica can grow up to 60 mm in length but are more commonly found between 20 mm to 30 mm in length.[4]

Feeding

(A) A defined tubule of the digestive diverticula extending into the parapodial region of the animal (arrow). The digestive system consists of densely packed tubules that branch throughout the animal's body. Each tubule is made up of a layer of single cells containing animal organelles and numerous algal plastids. This cell layer surrounds the lumen. (B) Magnified image of the epidermis of E. chlorotica showing densely packed plastids. The animals are light grey in color without their resident plastids, which contribute chlorophyll to render the sea slugs bright green.

Elysia chlorotica feeds on the intertidal alga Vaucheria litorea. It punctures the algal cell wall with its radula, then holds the algal strand firmly in its mouth and sucks out the contents as from a straw.[4] Instead of digesting the entire cell contents, or passing the contents through its gut unscathed, it retains only the chloroplasts, by storing them within its extensive digestive system. It then takes up the live chloroplasts into its own gut cells as organelles and maintains them alive and functional for many months. The acquisition of chloroplasts begins immediately following metamorphosis from the veliger stage when the juvenile sea slugs begin to feed on the Vaucheria litorea cells.[5] Juvenile slugs are brown with red pigment spots until they feed upon the algae, at which point they become green. This is caused by the distribution of the chloroplasts throughout the extensively branched gut.[4] At first the slug needs to feed continually on algae to retain the chloroplasts, but over time the chloroplasts become more stably incorporated into the cells of the gut enabling the slug to remain green without further feeding. Some Elysia chlorotica slugs have even been known to be able to use photosynthesis for up to a year after only a few feedings.

The chloroplasts of the algae are incorporated into the cell through the process of phagocytosis in which the cells of the sea slug engulf the cells of the algae and make the chloroplasts a part of its own cellular content. The incorporation of chloroplasts within the cells of Elysia chlorotica allows the slug to capture energy directly from light, as most plants do, through the process of photosynthesis. E. chlorotica can, during time periods where algae is not readily available as a food supply, survive for months. It was once thought that this survival depended on the sugars produced through photosynthesis performed by the chloroplasts,[6] and it has been found that the chloroplasts can survive and function for up to nine or even ten months.

However further study on several similar species showed these sea slugs do just as well when they are deprived of light.[7][8] Sven Gould from Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf and his colleagues showed that even when photosynthesis was blocked, the slugs could survive without food for a long time, and seemed to fare just as well as food-deprived slugs exposed to light. They starved six specimens of P. ocellatus for 55 days, keeping two in the dark, treating two with chemicals that inhibited photosynthesis, and providing two with appropriate light. All survived and all lost weight at about the same rate. The authors also denied food to six specimens of E. timida and kept them in complete darkness for 88 days — and all survived.[9]

In another study, it was shown that E. chlorotica definitely have a way to support the survival of their chloroplasts. After the eight-month period, despite the fact that the Elysia chlorotica were less green and more yellowish in colour, the majority of the chloroplasts within the slugs appeared to have remained intact while maintaining their fine structure.[5] By spending less energy on activities such as finding food, the slugs can invest this precious energy into other important activities. Although Elysia chlorotica are unable to synthesize their own chloroplasts, the ability to maintain the chloroplasts in a functional state indicates that Elysia chlorotica could possess photosynthesis-supporting genes within its own nuclear genome, possibly acquired through horizontal gene transfer.[6] Since chloroplast DNA alone encodes for just 10% of the proteins required for proper photosynthesis, scientists investigated the Elysia chlorotica genome for potential genes that could support chloroplast survival and photosynthesis. The researchers found a vital algal gene, psbO (a nuclear gene encoding for a manganese-stabilizing protein within the photosystem II complex[6]) in the sea slug's DNA, identical to the algal version. They concluded that the gene was likely to have been acquired through horizontal gene transfer, as it was already present in the eggs and sex cells of Elysia chlorotica.[10] It is due to this ability to utilize horizontal gene transfer that the chloroplasts are able to be used as efficiently as they have been. If an organism did not incorporate the chloroplasts and corresponding genes into its own cells and genome, the algal cells would need to be fed upon more often due to a lack of efficiency in the use and preservation of the chloroplasts. This once again leads to a conservation of energy, as stated earlier, allowing the slugs to focus on more important activities such as mating and avoiding predation.

More recent analyses, however, were unable to identify any actively expressed algal nuclear genes in Elysia cholorotica, or in the similar species Elysia timida and Plakobranchus ocellatus.[11][12] These results weaken support for the horizontal gene transfer hypothesis.[12] A 2014 report utilizing fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) to localize an algal nuclear gene, prk, found evidence of horizontal gene transfer.[13] However, these results have since been called into question, as FISH analysis can be deceptive and cannot prove horizontal gene transfer without comparison to the Elysia cholorotica genome, which the researchers failed to do.[14]

The exact mechanism allowing for the longevity of chloroplasts once captured by Elysia cholorotica despite its lack of active algal nuclear genes remains unknown. However, some light has been shed on Elysia timida and its algal food.[15] Genomic analysis of Acetabularia acetabulum and Vaucheria litorea, the primary food sources of Elysia timida, has revealed that their chloroplasts produce ftsH, another protein essential for photosystem II repair. In land plants, this gene is always encoded in the nucleus but is present in the chloroplasts of most algae. An ample supply of ftsH could in principle contribute greatly to the observed kleptoplast longevity in Elysia cholorotica and Elysia timida.[15]

Life cycle

Adult Elysia chlorotica are simultaneous hermaphrodites. When sexually mature, each animal produces both sperm and eggs at the same time. However, self-fertilization is not common within this species. Instead, Elysia chlorotica cross-copulate. After the eggs have been fertilized within the slug (fertilization is internal), Elysia chlorotica lay their fertilized eggs in long strings.[4]

Cleavage

In the life cycle of Elysia chlorotica, cleavage is holoblastic and spiral. This means that the eggs cleave completely (holoblastic); and each cleavage plane is at an oblique angle to the animal-vegetal axis of the egg. The result of this is that tiers of cells are produced, each tier lying in the furrows between cells of the tier below it. At the end of cleavage, the embryo forms a stereoblastula, meaning a blastula without a clear central cavity.[4]

Gastrulation

Elysia chlorotica gastrulation is by epiboly: the ectoderm spreads to envelope the mesoderm and endoderm.[4]

Larval stage

After the embryo passes through a trochophore-like stage during development, it then hatches as a veliger larva.[4] The veliger larva has a shell and ciliated velum. The larva uses the ciliated velum to swim as well as to bring food to its mouth. The veliger larva feeds on phytoplankton in the sea-water column. After the food is brought to the mouth by the ciliated velum, it is moved down the digestive tract to the stomach. In the stomach, food is sorted and then moved on to the digestive gland, where the food is digested and the nutrients are absorbed by the epithelial cells of the digestive gland.[4][16][17]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Rosenberg, G. (2009). "Malacolog 4.1.1: A Database of Western Atlantic Marine Mollusca". Elysia chlorotica Gould, 1870. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  2. ^ name="Rumpho, Summer, and Manhart. "Solar-Powered Sea Slugs. Mollusc/Algal Chloroplast Symbiosis." Plant Physiology.May 2000.
  3. ^ a b Rudman, W.B. (2005). Elysia chlorotica Gould, 1870. [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rumpho-Kennedy, M.E., Tyler, M., Dastoor, F.P., Worful, J., Kozlowski, R., & Tyler, M. (2006). Symbio: a look into the life of a solar-powered sea slug. Retrieved June 8, 2014, from https://web.archive.org/web/20110918070141/http://sbe.umaine.edu/symbio/index.html
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  16. ^ Mature Veliger (schema)
  17. ^ Video

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Elysia chlorotica: Brief Summary

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Elysia chlorotica (common name the eastern emerald elysia) is a small-to-medium-sized species of green sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusc. This sea slug superficially resembles a nudibranch, yet it does not belong to that clade. Instead it is a member of the clade Sacoglossa, the sap-sucking sea slugs. Some members of this group use chloroplasts from the algae they eat for photosynthesis, a phenomenon known as kleptoplasty. Elysia chlorotica is one species of such "solar-powered sea slugs". It lives in a subcellular endosymbiotic relationship with chloroplasts of the marine heterokont alga Vaucheria litorea.

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Distribution

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Gulf of St. Lawrence (unspecified region), and Prince Edward Island (from the northern tip of Miscou Island, N.B. to Cape Breton Island south of Cheticamp, including the Northumberland Strait and Georges Bay to the Canso Strait causeway) Nova Scotia; USA: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida; Florida: East Florida, West Florida; USA: Texas

Reference

North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS)

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Habitat

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infralittoral of the Gulf and estuary

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North-West Atlantic Ocean species (NWARMS)

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Kennedy, Mary [email]