Sascha is a U.K.-based trainee staff writer at Live Science. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Southampton in England and a master’s degree in science communication from
Where it lives: Shallow pools of water in the mangrove forests and swamps of southeast Asia and AustraliaWhy it's awesome: In addition to looking like a starry night sky, this fabulous slug belongs to the sacoglossans, also known as the"solar-powered sea slugs" — the only known group of animals that can photosynthesize by retaining chloroplasts from algae.
Mangrove leaf slugs have seven to nine sharp teeth, which they use to puncture algal cells to then suck out the good stuff inside. That includes chloroplasts, the cellular structures plants use to transform sunlight into sugars during photosynthesis. Mangrove leaf slugs, which grow up to 2 inches long, use the chloroplasts they ingest to power themselves, enabling them to survive without food for two to three months.
—Pacific lamprey: The jawless fish that survived 4 mass extinctions and sucks prey dry of blood and body fluids After a few months, however, the chloroplasts start to shrink and the slugs turn a yellowish color, at which point they have to replenish their photosynthetic machinery with another meal of algae. Once they have fed, the famished slugs regain their leafy-green color.
And if their photosynthetic abilities weren't weird enough, mangrove leaf slugs are simultaneous hermaphrodites, meaning each slug has the sexual organs of both sexes. To reproduce, two slugs hug tight and insert their penises into each other's vaginas at the same time. After sex, the slugs sometimes form a ball as they withdraw their penises. They then lay egg strings up to 28 inches long and coil them around solid features on the swampy substrate.
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