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Gastropod - Blog Posts
Marine snail (Bulina sp.) By: Dr. Jonathan P. Green From: The Science of Zoology 1966
Sea elephant
Carinaria japonica
The Sea Elephant is a translucent sea snail that has a large muscular body and a tiny triangular shell. Its foot is used for crawling on the ground, and it can be transformed into a fin that is used for swimming. It is called the “sea elephant” because it has a small trunk in its mouth that is used to swallow prey. Furthermore, the Sea Elephant eats arrow worms and jellies.
Photo credit
https://bodegahead.blogspot.com/2014/12/carinaria-part-2.html
http://tolweb.org/Carinaria_japonica/28750
Sea Angel
Cliopsis krohni
The Sea Angel is a tiny snail that is only 4 cm in length and found at depths as deep as 1500 m. Even though it is small, it is a viscous predator. It hunts other midwater snails using a structure called a radula. Unlike other snails, the Sea Angel’s mouth is located on top of its head. It also uses swimming “wings” to propel through the water.
Photo Source: http://seaslugsofhawaii.com/species/Cliopsis-krohni-a.html
@confidently-regretful
(Sorry to be that guy but) the leaf sheep is not actually a nudibranch, but instead part of the closely related order sacoglossa. Nudibranches are carnivorous while sacoglossa are herbivorous and feed by sucking the sap out of microscopic algae. Many sacoglossa perform a process called kleptoplasty, where they reuse chloroplasts from the algal sap they feed on and implement them into their cells. Some notable examples are the bivalve snails in the family juliidae, the eastern emerald elysia (elysia chlorotica) and obviously the sea sheep. Another slug from the order elysia (elysia rufescens) reuses defensive molecules called kahalalides as well as chloroplasts. Most sacoglossans survive primarily through heterotrophic means (ingesting and digesting) and photosynthesise when food is scarce or unavailable as a last resort. Though research has shown leaf sheep can survive long periods of time with little to no food of heterotrophic or homotrophic (photosynthetic) origin. They store their chloroplasts in cerata, which are structures often found on nudibranches and regularly used for gas exchange or- in blue glaucus’ case- for attack and defence. They also have rhinophores protruding from their face, structures also commonly found on nudibranches, which are chemosensory organs (essentially face tongues) that appear ear like on nudibranches and sacoglossans alike.
To conclude: while leaf sheep are very similar to nudibranches, they belong to the sacoglossan family (which is good because sacoglossans are just as cool) and luckily are not the only animals to photosynthesise.
(I’m researching them for a highschool project and am so obsessed haha)
So not technically a fish but I absolutely love these lil fellas
They’re Nudibranch sea slugs and they all look so pretty!!!!!
Some notable exception are the Sea Bunny (left) which is just the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen
And the Leaf Sheep (right), which is the only animal known to be capable of photosynthesis!
i am SUCH a nudibranch fan oh my god. actual underwater fae creatures. beloved little freak animals. i want to eat them like cereal
