Solar-Powered Sea Slug
RibeirodosSantos from Getty Images/CanvaPro
The waters off the coast of the Philippines harbor a tiny sea slug known as the leaf sheep. Measuring only seven to eight millimeters in length, this remarkable marine invertebrate has black eyes, insect-like antennae with black tips that resemble sheep’s ears and spiky green appendages distributed across its body known as the cerata.
The leaf sheep feeds on Avrainvillea, a species of algae. After ingesting the algae’s cells containing chlorophyll, the slug stores it in the tissues of its cerata for up to 10 days. This allows the slug to supplement its algae-based diet with photosynthesis, a process typically reserved for plants that converts sunlight into energy.
