Elysia serca

Last updated

Elysia serca
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Heterobranchia
Family: Plakobranchidae
Genus: Elysia
Species:
E. serca
Binomial name
Elysia serca
Er. Marcus, 1955 [1]

Elysia serca, the seagrass elysia or Caribbean seagrass elysia, is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Plakobranchidae. Although this sea slug resembles a nudibranch, it is not a nudibranch; it belongs to the clade, Sacoglossa, the "sap-sucking" sea slugs. It was first described by Marcus in 1955 from specimens found in Brazil.

Contents

Taxonomy

Elysia clena is a species first described from Curaçao by Marcus in 1970. Jensen (1982) determined that it was a junior synonym of Elysia serca, first described by Marcus from Brazil in 1955. This was on the basis of the morphology of the radular teeth, the dorsal venation and biological observations. [2]

Elysia serca also bears great similarities to Elysia catulus (Gould, 1870), a species with a more northerly distribution, and Jensen (1983) considers that E. serca may be a subspecies or ecotype of E. catulus. Features in common between the two include the anatomy of the mouth, the shape of the radular teeth and the paths taken by the dorsal veins. [3]

Description

Elysia serca is a small, slender sea slug with a maximum length of 8 millimetres (0.31 in). The parapodia are less well developed than is the case in many other Elysia species and Elysia serca has a relatively large head. The characteristic radular teeth have the cusps bent at right angles to their bases. The base colour is some shade of brown or olive with many small patches of white and three larger white patches, two on the parapodia and one on the back near the heart. [4] [5]

Distribution and habitat

Elysia serca is found in shallow waters in the western Atlantic from Florida south to Brazil. [5] It was originally described from the southern end of its range, where it was found on brown algae and the green alga Ulva , on which it was presumably feeding. In Florida however it feeds on seagrasses including Halophila engelmannii , Halodule wrightii and Thalassia at depths of up to a few metres. [4] [5] Elysia catulus on the other hand, feeds on the seagrass Zostera and is found on the North American coast between South Carolina and Nova Scotia. [6]

Biology

In Florida, there is a great variation in the size of populations of Elysia serca at different times of year. This is likely to be because the life span is less than a year and recruitment, and the establishment of new populations, comes as a result of planktonic larvae arriving from elsewhere and settling. [5]

Feeding is done by puncturing the plant cells with the radular tooth and sucking out the liquid contents. Elysia serca shows a preference for, and grows faster on, Halophila engelmannii. [5] This may be because the plant has large epidermal cells which are easy to exploit or because of the absence of tannins, a chemical defence against herbivores used by some seagrasses. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacoglossa</span> Clade of gastropods

Sacoglossa, commonly known as the sacoglossans or the "solar-powered sea slugs", are a superorder of small sea slugs and sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks that belong to the clade Heterobranchia. Sacoglossans live by ingesting the cellular contents of algae, hence they are sometimes called "sap-sucking sea slugs".

<i>Elysia subornata</i> Species of gastropod

Elysia subornata is a species of small sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Plakobranchidae.

<i>Elysia chlorotica</i> Species of gastropod

Elysia chlorotica 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. 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 for photosynthesis, a phenomenon known as kleptoplasty. Elysia chlorotica is one species of such "solar-powered sea slugs". It lives in a subcellular endosymbiotic relationship with chloroplasts of the marine heterokont alga Vaucheria litorea.

<i>Elysia</i> (gastropod) Genus of gastropods

Elysia is a genus of sea slugs, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Plakobranchidae. These animals are colorful sea slugs, and they can superficially resemble nudibranchs, but are not very closely related to them. Instead they are sacoglossans, commonly known as sap-sucking slugs.

<i>Halophila johnsonii</i> Species of aquatic plant

Halophila johnsonii, or Johnson's seagrass, is a small, asexual seagrass in the family Hydrocharitaceae. It occurs only on the southeastern coast of Florida, and was the first marine plant listed on the United States endangered species list, where it is listed as a threatened species. Female flowers have been observed, but even with decade long observational studies, neither male flowers nor seed have ever been observed.

<i>Halophila</i> Genus of aquatic plants

Halophila is a genus of seagrasses in the family Hydrocharitaceae, the tape-grasses. It was described as a genus in 1806. The number of its contained species, and its own placement in the order Alismatales, has evolved.

<i>Elysia ornata</i> Species of gastropod

Elysia ornata, commonly known as ornate elysia or ornate leaf slug, is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusk. This sea slug superficially resembles a nudibranch, yet it does not belong to that suborder of gastropods. Instead it is a member of the closely related clade Sacoglossa, the "sap-sucking" sea slugs.

<i>Elysia timida</i> Species of gastropod

Elysia timida is a species of sacoglossan sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk. Found in the Mediterranean and nearby parts of the Atlantic, it is herbivorous, feeding on various algae in shallow water.

<i>Elysia pusilla</i> Species of gastropod

Elysia pusilla is a species of small sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Plakobranchidae. It is a sacoglossan.

<i>Elysia maoria</i> Species of gastropod

Elysia maoria is a species of marine gastropod mollusk in the family Plankobranchidae. It is found off of New Zealand.

<i>Bosellia</i> Genus of gastropods

Bosellia is a genus of sea slugs, marine gastropod mollusks within the superfamily Plakobranchoidea.

<i>Elysia catulus</i> Species of gastropod

Elysia catulus is a small species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Plakobranchidae. This sea slug resembles a nudibranch, but it is not closely related to that order of gastropods, instead it is a sacoglossan. The specific name "catulus" comes from the Greek and means "little cat", referring to the superficial resemblance that the head of this slug bears to the head of a cat.

<i>Elysia margaritae</i> Species of gastropod

Elysia margaritae is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc.

<i>Elysia diomedea</i> Species of gastropod

Elysia diomedea is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Plakobranchidae.

<i>Elysia trisinuata</i> Species of gastropod

Elysia trisinuata is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Plakobranchidae. This sea slug resembles a nudibranch but is not closely related to that order of gastropods, instead belonging to another clade, Sacoglossa, the "sap-sucking" sea slugs.

Elysia rufescens is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Plakobranchidae. This sea slug resembles a nudibranch but is not classified in that order of gastropods, instead belonging to a closely related clade, Sacoglossa, the "sap-sucking" sea slugs. This species was first described by Pease from Tahiti in 1871.

Halophila engelmannii is a species of seagrass in the Hydrocharitaceae family. It is referred to by the common names star grass and Engelmann's seagrass and grows underwater on shallow sandy or muddy sea floors. It is native to the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Gulf Coast of the United States, the Gulf Coast of Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad and Tobago.

<i>Halophila decipiens</i> Species of aquatic plant

Halophila decipiens, commonly known as Caribbean seagrass or paddle grass, is a seagrass in the family Hydrocharitaceae. It grows underwater on sandy or muddy sea floors in shallow parts of tropical seas.

<i>Elysia bangtawaensis</i> Species of gastropod

Elysia bangtawaensis is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Plakobranchidae. Although this sea slug resembles a nudibranch, it is not a nudibranch but is part of a rather different clade, the sacoglossans, also known as the "sap-sucking" sea slugs.

<i>Thuridilla vataae</i> Species of sea slug gastropod

Thuridilla vataae is a species of sacoglossan sea slug, a shell-less marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusc in the family Plakobranchidae. It is native to the tropical Indo-Pacific. It was first described by the French zoologist Jean Risbec in 1928; its specific name refers to the Bay of Anse Vata, just south of Nouméa, New Caledonia, where the type specimen was collected.

References

  1. ↑ Bouchet, Philippe (2010). "Elysia serca Er. Marcus, 1955". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 2012-01-27.
  2. ↑ Jensen, Kathe R. (1982). "Occurrence of Elysia serca Marcus in Florida, with notes on the synonymy and biology of the species". Journal of Conchology. 31: 87–94.
  3. ↑ Jensen, Kathe R. (1983). "Further Notes on the Ecology and Systematics of Elysia serca Marcus (Opisthobranchia, Ascoglossa)". Journal of Molluscan Studies. 49 (12A): 69–72. Archived from the original on 2012-07-13.
  4. 1 2 Elysia serca; Marcus, 1955 The Sea Slug Forum. Retrieved 2012-01-27.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Elysia serca Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce. Retrieved-2012-01-28.
  6. ↑ Elysia catulus (Gould, 1870) The Sea Slug Forum. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.