Elysia Chlorotica By Marissa Ringwell Taxonomy Kingdom Animalia

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. 5 m.

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/Elys ia_chlorotica/ • brahic, c. (2008, November 24). Life. Retrieved February 1, 2013, from newscientist. com: http: //www. newscientist. com/article/dn 16124 solarpowered-sea-slug-harnesses-stolen-plantgenes. html