Elysia timida

Elysia timida
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
(unranked):	clade Heterobranchia clade Euthyneura clade Panpulmonata clade Sacoglossa clade Plakobranchacea
Superfamily:	Plakobranchoidea
Family:	Plakobranchidae
Genus:	Elysia
Species:	E. timida
Binomial name
Elysia timida (Risso, 1818)
Synonyms
Elysia viridis var. lactea Bergh, 1880 Notarchus timidus Risso, 1818 (original description)

Elysia timida is a species of sacoglossan sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk.

It feeds on the algae Acetabularia acetabulum (from which it keeps the chloroplasts, that are able to continue photosynthesis in the slug's tissues) and Padina pavonica.

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean of the Cape Verdes and in the Caribbean Sea.

Gallery

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  mating behaviour
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  copulation
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References

• Risso A., 1818: Mémoire sur quelques Gastropodes nouveaux, Nudibranches et Tectibranches observés dans la mer de Nice; Journal de Physique, de Chimie, d'Histoire Naturelle et des Arts 87: 368-377
• Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels. 50: pp. 180-213.

External links

• [Marin A. & Ros J., 1993: Ultrastructural and ecological aspects of the development of chloroplast retention in the Sacoglossan Gastropod Elysia timida; Journal of Molluscan Studies 59(1): 95-104
• Schmitt V., et al. (2014). Chloroplast incorporation and long-term photosynthetic performance through the life cycle in laboratory cultures of Elysia timida (Sacoglossa, Heterobranchia). Frontiers in Zoology 11:5. doi:10.1186/1742-9994-11-5.