Elysia timida

Elysia timida
	Right side view of 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.[1]

Distribution

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

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

On Acetabularia acetabulum.

On Padina pavonica.

Mating behaviour.

Copulation.

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.

[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.
Photos of Elysia timida on Sealife Collection

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