Biologists have been studying an unusual kind of sea slug for over 2 decades. There are many names for this slug such as leaf that crawls, eastern emerald elysia, and emerald green sea slug. The scientific name for this creature is Elysia Chlorotica and it is a chlorophyll-producing sea slug, which constitutes it as both half plant and half animal.
Elysia Chlorotica is bright green with a rippling leaf shaped body and a snail-like head. It typically grows between 2 to 3 centimeters in length, but it is not unheard of for it to grow to 6 centimeters long. This species can be found along the Atlantic seaboard in the salt marshes and inlets from Florida in the United States of America to Nova Scotia in Canada.
Elysia Chlorotica is known for its amazing ability to produce chlorophyll (which is why it is green), and photosynthesize food so it can run on solar power without having to ingest food. It is the only known member of the animal kingdom that can do this.
Baby Elysia Chlorotica is brown with red spots before it has its first meal of Vaucheria Litorea, which is a kind of yellow-green algae. The slug turns green from the chloroplasts that it steals from the algae, but needs to continue eating for 2 weeks to retain the chloroplasts. Chloroplasts are the parts of plant cells that allow them to convert sunlight into energy or photosynthesize. Once the chloroplasts stabilize in the cells surrounding the slug’s digestive tract, the animal stays green and no longer needs to feed for the rest of its 9 to 12 month life span. Elysia Chlorotica can then survive on photosynthesis alone.
Biologists have studied this creature for so long because the species still holds a mystery. Scientists have confirmed that the chloroplasts only carry 10 percent of the proteins that Elysia Chlorotica needs to survive since it’s still an animal. If it only used the chloroplasts from the algae, it would not be able to survive on photosynthesis alone and would not be able to photosynthesize at all.
Elysia Chlorotica is a beautiful green sea slug that is half plant and half animal. It steals chloroplasts from the algae that it eats during its first couple weeks of life. Biologists have been studying this creature for over 2 decades and are still left wondering how they can be an animal and survive by photosynthesis.
