Elysia chlorotica
| Eastern emerald elysia | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| An E. chlorotica individual consuming its obligate algal food Vaucheria litorea | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): |
clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura |
| Superfamily: | Plakobranchoidea |
| Family: | Plakobranchidae |
| Genus: | Elysia |
| Species: | E. chlorotica |
| Binomial name | |
|
Elysia chlorotica Gould, 1870 |
|
clade Euthyneura
clade Panpulmonata
clade Sacoglossa
clade Plakobranchacea
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 of gastropods. 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, a phenomenon known as kleptoplasty. Elysia chlorotica is one of the "solar-powered sea slugs", utilizing solar energy via chloroplasts from its algal food. It lives in a subcellular endosymbiotic relationship with chloroplasts of the marine heterokont alga Vaucheria litorea.
Elysia chlorotica can be found along the east coast of the United States, including the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida (east Florida and west Florida) and Texas. They can also be found as far north as Nova Scotia, Canada.
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