Solar power sea slug

Are sea slugs solar-powered plants?

By farming photosynthetic cells stolen from their food and using the nutrients they produce, these spectacularly beautiful creatures have effectively become solar-powered, part-time plants. Unlike the unattractive, slimy brown slugs we see in our gardens, sea slugs are among the most spectacular and morphologically diverse animals on earth.

What does a solar powered sea slug look like?

The solar powered sea slug can grow up to 5cm long and is usually a vivid green, brown or red colour. It looks similar to the sea hare, with floppy ‘rhinophores’ which look a bit like bunny ears, but the solar powered sea slug has distinctive chloroplasts visible on its wings, foot and head, which look like tiny turquoise twinkling stars.

Can a sea slug make its own food from sunlight?

Elysia chlorotica is a small, green sea slug with a mind-bending secret: it can make its own food from sunlight. Yes, you read that right—an animal that behaves like a plant! What’s the magic behind this solar-powered feat?

Are sea slugs photosynthetic?

The photosynthetic sea slug, which lives off the U.S. East Coast, is becoming almost too rare to research. Life has certain rules and patterns. Plants, with their incredible ability to harness the sun’s energy, don’t go roaming around. They don’t need to. But animals, lacking the wondrous power of photosynthesis, do. They trot, slither, flap.

Does a sea slug suck raw materials from algae?

Debashish Bhattacharya In an amazing achievement akin to adding solar panels to your body, a northeast sea slug sucks raw materials from algae to provide its lifetime supply of solar-powered energy, according to a study by Rutgers University–New Brunswick and other scientists.

Are sea slugs a good source of energy?

In oceans all over the world, sea slugs are at the cutting edge of harvesting alternative energy. Sea slugs are some of the most strikingly beautiful - and unattractively named - creatures in the ocean. (Source: Tony Karacsonyi)