Image libraryBack to
Title: Lettuce Leaf Sea Slug. Cayman Islands.
Filename: CAY12_am-14858.jpg
Enquire: Email Alex about this image
Click on image to view larger (opens in a new window)
A lettuce leaf sea slug (Elysia crispata, formerly Tridachia crispata) climbs over a coral rock. This species feeds on algae. Many of the plant cells it eats are digested, but some are passed intact to branches of their gut that extend into the bushy appendages on their backs. Here the algae continue photosynthesizing, providing additional nutrition. East End, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, British West Indies. Caribbean Sea.
- British West Indies
- Caribbean Sea
- Cayman Islands
- coral reef
- Gastropods: Gastropoda
- Grand Cayman
- Invertebrates
- lettuce sea slug: lettuce leaf sea slug: Tridachia crispata
- macro
- Marine Life
- Mollusks: Mollusca
- Sea Slugs: Opisthobranchs: Ophisthobranchia: Opisthobranchia
- Sea Slugs: Sacoglossans: Sacoglossa
- tropical
- www.amustard.com
- © Alexander Mustard