Amazing half-animal and half-plant – The Elysia Chlorotica (common name the eastern emerald elysia) is a sea slug that is not like most sea slugs. Researchers refer to this animal as being “solar-powered,” since it undergoes several plant-like processes and resembles a leaf!
This creature has chloroplasts that let him convert sunlight into energy, so yes, it undergoes photosynthesis. The Elysia Chlorotica sea slug, distinct from some of the more exotic animals we see here on Greenamajigger, can be found close to home! By the close, it means the east coast of the United States. It lives in a subcellular endosymbiotic relationship with chloroplasts of the marine heterokont alga Vaucheria litorea.
It is feeding on algae; this amazing animal has a weird way of sustaining life. Because it needs to eat plants to maintain its existence, but the only thing that it takes from what it eats are chloroplasts, which help it undergo photosynthesis more easily! So, is the elysia chlorotica a plant? Yes. Is it an animal? Yes. Mind Blown!
