Elysia viridis
(Montagu, 1804)

Order: SACOGLOSSA
Superfamily: ELYSIOIDEA
Family: Elysiidae

DISTRIBUTION

Northeast Atlantic from Norway to the Mediterranean.

PHOTO

on intertidal Ulva. Millport, Isle of Cumbrae, Scotland, United Kingdom, May 1992
PHOTO: Daniel G. Geiger.

RELATED TOPIC

Solar Powered Sea Slugs

It grows to about 45mm in length and its body colour, green to bright red, is dependent on the colour of the algae it is feeding on. There are usually scattered iridescent red, blue and green spots, and there can be white patches on the parapodial edges and black markings in the head and elsewhere. Branching ducts and lobes of the digestive gland are visible through the body wall in all parts of the body.

Elysia viridis has been reported from a variety of species of alga, but it actually eats the filamentous algae Cladophora and Chaetomorpha as well as coenocytic algae Codium and Bryopsis (see Trowbridge message). It is able to retain living plastids from its algal food, allowing the plastids to continue to photosynthesise within its body. The slug's colour is algal-derived, leading to the different color "morphs" which have been reported for this species.

Reference:
• Thompson, T.E. (1976) Biology of Opisthobranch Molluscs, Vol 1. Ray Society: London.

Authorship details
Rudman, W.B., 1999 (August 14) Elysia viridis (Montagu, 1804). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet/elysviri

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  3. Re: Elysia viridis from Mediterranean sea
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  4. Elysia viridis from Scotland
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  5. Elysia from Tunisia
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  13. Re: Philinopsis depicta from Tunisia
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  14. Elysia viridis from Tunisia
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  15. Re: Elysia viridis?
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  17. Elysia viridis from the Netherlands
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  18. The shape of Elysia viridis
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  19. Observations on Elysia viridis
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  20. Re: The food of Elysia viridis
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  21. Re: Is Elysia viridis a single species?
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  23. Re: Is Elysia viridis a single species?
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  24. Re: Is Elysia viridis a single species?
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  25. Is Elysia viridis a single species?
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  26. Elysia viridis from the Netherlands
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  27. Re: chloroplast symbiosis in Norway
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  28. Re: chloroplast symbiosis in Norway
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