#sacoglossans

[pillowspace]

GIRLY JUST FOUND OUT ABOUT CYERCE ELEGANS

If Cyerce nigricans is a butterfly, then this is a fairy... Cyerce nigricans for comparison:

[icarianonager]

It is now Sea Slug Saturday.

[ssluggishh]

NOAH! I AM LATE BUT TRICK OR TREAT

HI DAN !! lovely costume and lovely companion you have there. you get a Boodlea Sapsucker (Ercolania boodleae) 🌊

[src]

[sourscratched]

going back through old stuff, found my “what if skip looked like a sea slug” drawings

more info about sacoglossans in this vid

[pixierainbows]

These are sea sheep! They're a lovely type of sacoglossan sea slug. They eat algae, and then keep the algae within themselves. The algae gets a safe home, and in return, the sea sheep gets energy. I love these creatures so much and wanted to share. Hope Pixie enjoys and also has a great day.

those be absolutely most adorable creatures Pixie ever see thank you so much for share

[mutant-distraction]

Costasiella kuroshimae-also known as a "leaf slug", "leaf sheep", or "salty ocean caterpillar"-is a species of sacoglossan sea slug. Costasiella kuroshimae are shell- less marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusks in the family Costasiellidae. They range in size from 5 millimetres to 1 centimetre in length

📷:alexmustard1

Lembeh Strait

[femmepathy]

this sacoglossan i found keeps showing up in my dreams

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Meet the Sea Sheep. Costasiella kuroshimae—also known as a "leaf slug", "leaf sheep", or "salty ocean caterpillar"—is a species of sacoglossan sea slug. They range in size from 5 mm to 1 cm.  "Shaun the Sheep" is what many divers in the Philippines affectionately call them.

I didn't even know they were a thing.

[foxbirdy]

Sacoglossan sea slugs in Elysiidae, Elysia ornata (1) and Elysia rufescens (2). Rubble Pile, 2/11/2024.

[autitm]

U guys dont fuckinf understand how much i love nudibranchs and sacoglossans

[garbage-empress]

Have you posted any full tank shots? I'm so curious! I had some texas-native sacoglossans for a while (as hitchhikers) but within two weeks they eliminated all the algae in the tank the struggle to feed them is real...

It's been a while since I have so I will post some now! That's really cool about the sacoglossans, do you have an idea what species they were? But yeah, I think everyone who hasn't actually kept one (me included prior to like March) hears that they can do some photosynthesis and assume this means they don't eat much, but that's so not true. I've been throwing in chunks of bryopsis mats every other day for Gigi and she kinda just plops onto it and she won't leave until she's devoured the entire thing.

Anyway here's my cluttered tank! My nerite snail keeps leaving little egg casings all over the glass if you're wondering what the white spots are.

[pillowspace]

I enjoy seeing you get excited about sea slugs

What's your favorite?

I'm glad!!

My favourite is cyerce nigricans! It reminds me of if a biblically accurate angel was a butterfly. I'm sure there are prettier sea slugs, but I'm fond of this one

They're also of the sacoglossan type which I find cool. Sacoglossans are also referred to as "solar-powered sea slugs" :D

[ssluggishh]

do you have a favorite sea slug? If so can we see them

HI !! i would love to share some of my favorite sea slugs with you :D

i'll start off with the Melibe genus because they have some really cool looking guys there.

Melibe colemani

probably my all time favorite sea slug. i like these guys because they look so unique !! it almost looks like a skeleton or a net. this image lets you see the transparent parts of the body easier, especially on that rhinophore (the antennae coming from the head on the right side of the image)

Green Melibe (Melibe viridis)

you miiight recognize this thing from that post about this thing tuesday. the way these guys eat is very similar to that of the Hooded Nudibranch, which is another slug from the Melibe genus. it is so so fascinating to me. they trap their prey inside their hood and then sweep it in from both sides to chow down.

i'm also a huge fan of sacoglossans, which are sea slugs that can photosynthesize using a process called kleptoplasty. i also think a lot of them are just really pretty lol. a very popular sacoglossan is the Leaf Sheep.

Little Leaf Sheep (Costasiella kuroshimae)

the Cyerce genus is another type of sacoglossan that has captured the attention of a lot of tumblr users, most notably Cyerce nigricans and Cyerce elegans.

Black-and-Gold Sapsucking Slug (Cyerce nigricans)

Elegant Sapsucking Slug (Cyerce elegans)

this post is already long enough, but i'll close this off by saying i also enjoy nudibranchs from the Proctonotoidea and Aeolid superfamilies :]

[caseywond3r]

what is your favourite small animal and why is it bnuuys?

okay so you're very close but it's these fuckers

this is the leaf sheep and he's a type of sacoglossan sea slug. he is bioluminescent and capable of photosynthesis because he retains the chloroplasts from the algae he eats!! he's extremely tiny, about .5-1cm in length, and he looks like a little sheep made of leaves. hence the name. he also, in my opinion, looks like a pokemon.

he is closely related to the nudibranch, an order of sea slugs that lack an internal shell and have external gills.

(quick infographic so you can see how cool these fuckers are)

the reason I say you were close is because there is a species of nudibranch called a sea bunny!!!! and they're so cute!!!!!!

look at these fuckers!!!!!! definitely one of my favourites.

anyways. neurodivergent people when they are asked about something that has zero to do with their special interest finding a way to relate it back to their special interest. sorry. but also not at all please give me more excuses to talk about sea slugs.

[kamabokobun]

Nice work on the mollusc starters, I absolutely love the sarcolamb line!

I just wanted to ask, what specific molluscs are they based on?

My guess is a type of sea bunny, the scaly foot gastropod and...

I know its an octopi, but what specifically?

Sorry if I'm reading into it too much, I love researching wildlife!

Hey! Thanks so much!

-Sacolamb is kind of a combination between a leaf sheep slug and dorid nudibranchs! Leaf sheep were the main inspiration, but I decided to add elements of nudibranchs into sacolamb (and the whole line) because 1. I personally find dorids to be very adorable, and 2. Leaf sheep are sacoglossan sea slugs, which (as far as I know) aren’t toxic like nudibranchs, so the added nudibranch inspiration is kind-of there to (hopefully) make incoglossa’s type make a little more sense.

-You’re correct with scalit! Its only inspiration species-wise is the scaly foot gastropod.

-With collectopus, its main inspiration is more funneled into its behavior than its appearance: the coconut octopus- because they’re known to carry around shells and such as shelter! It’s also very based off of that one video of an octopus with a plastic cup (and the phenomenon of octopuses utilizing human trash in general). Visually, it’s just supposed to be a “generic octopus” with some dumbo octopus features (it’s cute little fins!).

Thank you for the ask!!! ^_^)/

[nudibranchnerd]

Meet the…

SEA SHEEP!

Costasiella kuroshimae, aka the leaf slug, sea sheep, and loads of other names, is a type of sacoglossan sea slug!

Scientific Classifications:

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Gastropoda

Clade: Heterobranchia

Informal Group: Opisthobranchia

Clade: Sacoglossa

Clade: Plakobranchacea

Superfamily: Limapontioidea

Family: Costasiellidae

Genus: Costasiella

These little cuties are around Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia! They are capable of photosynthesis via a process called kleptoplasty, where they retain the chloroplasts from the algae they eat.

Their lifespan is between 6 months to a year. They are 5 millimeters to 1 centimeter