Synonyms: none known

Description: A vivid green species, studied extensively in the context of kleptoplasty, horizontal transfer of genes, and development.  Tolerates a wide range of salinity.  Has been reared in captivity.  The only species whose neurons have been studied electrophysiologically.

Distribution: Western Atlantic, reported as far south as Chesapeake Bay [cite]

Food Plant: Vaucheria litorea

Kleptoplasty: Long-term

Development: Planktotrophic (Pelletreau et al., 2012)

Scientific Literature

Bhattacharya, D., Pelletreau, K. N., Price, D. C., Sarver, K. E. and Rumpho, M. E. (2013). Genome analysis of Elysia chlorotica Egg DNA provides no evidence for horizontal gene transfer into the germ line of this Kleptoplastic Mollusc. Mol Biol Evol 30, 1843–1852.

Cai, H., Li, Q., Fang, X., Li, J., Curtis, N. E., Altenburger, A., Shibata, T., Feng, M., Maeda, T., Schwartz, J. A., et al. (2019). A draft genome assembly of the solar-powered sea slug Elysia chlorotica. Sci Data 6, 190022–190022.

Chan, C. X., Vaysberg, P., Price, D. C., Pelletreau, K. N., Rumpho, M. E. and Bhattacharya, D. (2018). Active Host Response to Algal Symbionts in the Sea Slug Elysia chlorotica. Molecular Biology and Evolution 35, 1706–1711.

Clark, K. B. (1975). Nudibranch life cycles in the Northwest Atlantic and their relationship to the ecology of fouling communities. Helgoländer Wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen 27, 28–69.

du Bois-Reymond Marcus, E. (1972). Notes on Some Opisthobranch Gastropods from the Chesapeake Bay. Chesapeake Science 13, 300.

Fan, X., Qiao, H., Xu, D., Cao, S., Zhang, X., Wang, Y., Mou, S. and Ye, N. (2013). Complete mitochondrial genome of the sea slug, Placidasp., contains unusual noncoding regions. Mitochondrial DNA 24, 219–221.

Graves, D.A, Gibson, M.A, and Bleakney, J.S. (1979). Digestive diverticula of Alderia modesta and Elysia chlorotica. Veliger 21, 415–422.

Green, B. J., Li, W. Y., Manhart, J. R., Fox, T. C., Summer, E. J., Kennedy, R. A., Pierce, S. K. and Rumpho, M. E. (2000). Mollusc-algal chloroplast endosymbiosis. Photosynthesis, thylakoid protein maintenance, and chloroplast gene expression continue for many months in the absence of the algal nucleus. Plant Physiol 124, 331–342.

Hanten, J. J. and Pierce, S. K. (2001). Synthesis of Several Light-Harvesting Complex I Polypeptides Is Blocked by Cycloheximide in Symbiotic Chloroplasts in the Sea Slug,Elysia chlorotica(Gould): A Case for Horizontal Gene Transfer Between Alga and Animal? The Biological Bulletin 201, 34–44.

Havurinne, V., Handrich, M., Antinluoma, M., Khorobrykh, S., Gould, S. B. and Tyystjärvi, E. (2021). Genetic autonomy and low singlet oxygen yield support kleptoplast functionality in photosynthetic sea slugs. J Exp Bot 72, 5553–5568.

Kiss, T. (2010). Apoptosis and its functional significance in molluscs. Apoptosis 15, 313–321.

Melo Clavijo, J., Frankenbach, S., Fidalgo, C., Serôdio, J., Donath, A., Preisfeld, A. and Christa, G. (2020). Identification of scavenger receptors and thrombospondin-type-1 repeat proteins potentially relevant for plastid recognition in Sacoglossa. Ecol Evol 10, 12348–12363.

Mondy, W. L. and Pierce, S. K. (2003). Apoptotic‐like morphology is associated with annual synchronized death in kleptoplastic sea slugs (Elysia chlorotica). Invertebrate Biology 122, 126–137.

Mujer, C. V., Andrews, D. L., Manhart, J. R., Pierce, S. K. and Rumpho, M. E. (1996). Chloroplast genes are expressed during intracellular symbiotic association of Vaucheria litorea plastids with the sea slug Elysia chlorotica. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 93, 12333–12338.

Parker, H. T. and Pierce, S. K. (1985). Comparative electrical properties of identified neurons in Elysia chlorotica before and after low salinity acclimation. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology 82, 367–372.

Pelletreau, K. N., Worful, J. M., Sarver, K. E. and Rumpho, M. E. (2012). Laboratory culturing of Elysia chlorotica reveals a shift from transient to permanent kleptoplasty. Symbiosis 58, 221–232.

Pelletreau, K. N., Weber, A. P. M., Weber, K. L. and Rumpho, M. E. (2014). Lipid accumulation during the establishment of kleptoplasty in Elysia chlorotica. PLoS One 9, e97477–e97477.

Pfitzenmeyer, H. T. (1960). Notes on the Nudibranch, Elysia chlorotica, from Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. Chesapeake Science 1, 114.

Pierce, S. K., Biron, R. W. and Rumpho, M. E. (1996). Endosymbiotic Chloroplasts in Molluscan Cells Contain Proteins Synthesized After Plastid Capture. Journal of Experimental Biology 199, 2323–2330.

Pierce, S. K., Maugel, T. K., Rumpho, M. E., Hanten, J. J. and Mondy, W. L. (1999). Annual Viral Expression in a Sea Slug Population: Life Cycle Control and Symbiotic Chloroplast Maintenance. The Biological Bulletin 197, 1–6.

Pierce, S. K., Massey, S. E., Hanten, J. J. and Curtis, N. E. (2003). Horizontal Transfer of Functional Nuclear Genes Between Multicellular Organisms. The Biological Bulletin 204, 237–240.

Pierce, S. K., Curtis, N. E. and Hanten, J. J. (2007). Transfer, integration and expression of functional nuclear genes between multicellular species. SYMBIOSIS 43, 57–64.

Pierce, S. K., Curtis, N. E. and Schwartz, J. A. (2009). Chlorophyll a synthesis by an animal using transferred algal nuclear genes. Symbiosis 49, 121–131.

Pierce, S. K., Fang, X., Schwartz, J. A., Jiang, X., Zhao, W., Curtis, N. E., Kocot, K. M., Yang, B. and Wang, J. (2011). Transcriptomic Evidence for the Expression of Horizontally Transferred Algal Nuclear Genes in the Photosynthetic Sea Slug, Elysia chlorotica. Molecular Biology and Evolution 29, 1545–1556.

Pierce, S. K., Curtis, N. E. and Middlebrooks, M. L. (2015). Sacoglossan sea slugs make routine use of photosynthesis by a variety of species‐specific adaptations. Invertebrate Biology 134, 103–115.

Quinn, R. H. and Pierce, S. K. (1992). The Ionic Basis of the Hypo-Osmotic Depolarization in Neurons From the Opisthobranch Mollusc Elysia Chlorotica. Journal of Experimental Biology 163, 169–186.

Rumpho, M. E., Summer, E. J., Green, B. J., Fox, T. C. and Manhart, J. R. (2001). Mollusc/algal chloroplast symbiosis: how can isolated chloroplasts continue to function for months in the cytosol of a sea slug in the absence of an algal nucleus? Zoology 104, 303–312.

Rumpho, M. E., Worful, J. M., Lee, J., Kannan, K., Tyler, M. S., Bhattacharya, D., Moustafa, A. and Manhart, J. R. (2008). Horizontal gene transfer of the algal nuclear gene psbO to the photosynthetic sea slug Elysia chlorotica. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105, 17867–17871.

Rumpho, M. E., Pochareddy, S., Worful, J. M., Summer, E. J., Bhattacharya, D., Pelletreau, K. N., Tyler, M. S., Lee, J., Manhart, J. R. and Soule, K. M. (2009). Molecular characterization of the Calvin cycle enzyme phosphoribulokinase in the stramenopile alga Vaucheria litorea and the plastid hosting mollusc Elysia chlorotica. Mol Plant 2, 1384–1396.

Rumpho, M. E., Pelletreau, K. N., Moustafa, A. and Bhattacharya, D. (2011). The making of a photosynthetic animal. Journal of Experimental Biology 214, 303–311.

Schwartz, J. A., Curtis, N. E. and Pierce, S. K. (2010). Using Algal Transcriptome Sequences to Identify Transferred Genes in the Sea Slug, Elysia chlorotica. Evolutionary Biology 37, 29–37.

Schwartz, J. A., Curtis, N. E. and Pierce, S. K. (2014). FISH Labeling Reveals a Horizontally Transferred Algal (Vaucheria litorea) Nuclear Gene on a Sea Slug (Elysia chlorotica) Chromosome. The Biological Bulletin 227, 300–312.

Skulachev, V. P. (2010). Discovery of a photosynthesizing animal that can survive for months in a light-dependent manner. Biochemistry (Moscow) 75, 1498–1499.

Soule, K. M. and Rumpho, M. E. (2012). Light-regulated photosynthetic gene expression and phosphoribulokinase enzyme activity in the heterokont alga Vaucheria litorea (xanthophyceae) and its symbiotic molluskan partner Elysia chlorotica (gastropoda). Journal of Phycology 48, 373–383.

Vendetti, J. E., Trowbridge, C. D. and Krug, P. J. (2012). Poecilogony and Population Genetic Structure in Elysia pusilla (Heterobranchia: Sacoglossa), and Reproductive Data for Five Sacoglossans that Express Dimorphisms in Larval Development. Integrative and Comparative Biology 52, 138–150.

Williams, S. I. and Walker, D. I. (2002). Mesoherbivore-macroalgal interactions: feeding ecology of sacoglossan sea slugs (Mollusca, Opisthobranchia) and their effects on food algae. In Oceanography and Marine Biology, An Annual Review, Volume 37, pp. 95–136. CRC Press.

*”Elysia chlorotica (1)” by EOL Learning and Education Group – Elysia chlorotica,Credit: Patrick Krug Cataloging Diversity in the Sacoglossa LifeDeskUploaded by Dominikmatus. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons –