LETTUCE SEA SLUGS: SOLAR POWERED ‘CRISPY BLISSFUL HEAVEN’

The Lettuce Sea Slug Elysia crispata (transl. ‘Crispy Blissful Heaven’) was No.3 in the ‘WTF’ ‘What’s That Fish’ series (despite not actually being a fish at all). It is not by any means the weirdest creature featured so far but it is nonetheless an animal whose appearance excites curiosity. Unless you see one moving, it could easily be mistaken for a plant. Maybe even lettuce. It is in fact a SACOGLOSSAN.

The name ‘sacoglossan’ literally means ‘sap-sucker’. This group (or ‘clade’) comprises small gastropod mollusks that ingest the cellular content of algae (which isn’t really sap).

WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT?

Because they are… SOLAR POWERED slugs

WHAAAAA…..?

As I mentioned when I last visited these remarkable creatures, this isn’t a technical forum and too much science hurts my head. This species primarily lives off algae. May I give you the word KLEPTOPLASTY to drop lightly into your conversation? In a couple of sentences, algae / algal content is eaten but only partially digested. Certain elements are stored to produce photosynthesis by which light is converted to energy (cf plants) and the slug can in effect live and move around without food. You could entertain your neighbour at dinner (or maybe on public transport, why not?) by summarising the process as “chloroplast symbiosis”. Meanwhile, I’m fetching a beer. Two beers.

HOW DO THEY REPRODUCE?

This topic doesn’t seem to have excited much investigative interest, and there’s not much specific information about it. What there is sounds unnecessarily complicated, so I am just going to say authoritatively ‘they do it like many other slug species’ and hope that covers it. The pair shown below may be exploring the possibilities, or at least trying to work out which end is which. One is easy to tell, but the other? Time to make our excuses and leave…

HOW FAST, EXACTLY, DOES A LETTUCE SEA SLUG MOVE?

This rather beautiful video from ‘CORAL MORPHOLOGIC STUDIO’ will reveal all. You’ll soon see that progress is very slow. I recommend watching the first 30 seconds and you’ll get the idea. If you choose to persist, you will see the slug sort of turn and move off to the left.

DO SAY:        What an intriguing creature. It’s a true wonder of marine nature.

DON’T SAY:  Any good in a mixed salad?

Credits: Melinda @ Grand Bahama Scuba, Nick Hobgood, Coral Morphologic Studio, Laszlo Ilyes wiki