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.
Description
Elysia ornata can grow to about 5 centimetres (2.0 in) in length.[2] It is a translucent greenish-yellow colour speckled with white and black. It has broad parapodia each edged with an orange band and a black margin. The rhinophores are similarly coloured with a band of orange and dark tips.[3] Its main food source is algae and are found on submergent vegetation.[4]
Distribution
Elysia ornata is a tropical species found in the benthic zone at depths of 0–18 m (0–59 ft).[4] It was thought to populate both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, but further analysis revealed that the Pacific populations consisted of several undescribed or previously synonomized species, and thus the type locality of E. ornata was restricted to the Caribbean Sea.[5][6]
References
- ^ Gofas, Serge (2010). "Elysia ornata (Swainson, 1840)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2012-01-24.
- ^ "The Sea Slug Forum - Elysia ornata". 15 July 2010.
- ^ Elysia ornata SeaSlugForum. Retrieved 2012-01-24.
- ^ a b Palomares ML, Pauly D, eds. (2022). "Elysia ornata" in SeaLifeBase. October 2022 version.
- ^ Krug, P. J., Vendettia, J. E., Rodrigueza, A. K., Retanaa, J. N., Mirano, Y. M., Trowbridge, C.D.; (2013). Integrative species delimitation in photosynthetic sea slugs reveals twenty candidate species in three nominal taxa studied for drug discovery, plastid symbiosis or biological control Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 19;69(3):1101–1119.
- ^ Krug P.J., Vendetti J.E. & Valdés Á. (2016). Molecular and morphological systematics of Elysia Risso, 1818 (Heterobranchia: Sacoglossa) from the Caribbean region. Zootaxa. 4148(1): 1-137.
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