Elysia viridis from the Baltic Sea

September 2, 2005
From: Dirk Schories

Hi to all,
A few years ago Peter Gleisenstein reported Aplysia punctata from the Flensburger Förde (Germany). Actually we suppose that we have found this species also a little bit more east close to the Olympic harbour of Schilksee (Kieler Bight, Baltic Sea). Salinity is about 15 PSU. Several species were found in depth between 2-4m on Gracilaria sp. (most probably recently introduced to the Baltic) and other filamentous algae.

Locality: Schilksee harbour, Germany, Baltic Sea. Depth: 2-4 m. Length: 10 mm. 22 August 2005. Photographer: Dirk Schories

Greetings,
Dirk

dirk.schories@gmx.de

Schories, D., 2005 (Sep 2) Elysia viridis from the Baltic Sea. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14694

Dear Dirk,
This is the sacoglossan Elysia viridis rather than a sea hare such as Aplysia. Sea Hares have two pairs of head tentacles rather than the single pair in your animal and the side flaps [parapodia] in Sea Hares enclose the remnants of a mantle cavity with an internal shell and a gill. In elysioid sacoglossans the parapodia are in fact 'the body' in at least the posterior two-thirds of the body. At the anterior end, the parapodia enclose a swelling which contains the heart from whch a network of blood vessels branch out over the inside of the parapodia [see lower left photo]. In the lower right photo you can see dark green masses inside the parapodial wall. These are clumps of plant chloroplasts being kept alive in specialised ducts of the digestive system. Elysia viridis  is a very interesting animal belonging to a group which I call 'solar-powered'. The sacoglossans that exhibit this symbiosis obtain the chloroplasts from the green algae they feed on. Have a look at the relevant Fact Sheets for more information.
Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2005 (Sep 2). Comment on Elysia viridis from the Baltic Sea by Dirk Schories. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/14694

Factsheet

Elysia viridis

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