Average rating
Cast your vote
You can rate an item by clicking the amount of stars they wish to award to this item.
When enough users have cast their vote on this item, the average rating will also be shown.
Star rating
Your vote was cast
Thank you for your feedback
Thank you for your feedback
Date
2016-12
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Plakobranchus ocellatus is a common inhabitant of shallow coral reef pools and lagoons. It is seldom seen as it is well-camouflaged, half buried in the coral sand. P. ocellatus lives in sheltered, shallow water habitats with stones or gravel and silt. Maximum length is 6-7 cm in Persian Gulf (Iran, Kish Island). It may seem puzzling that this slug has evolved a method of storing chloroplasts, but at the same time shades them from the sunlight which would allow them to photosynthesis and provide nourishment for the slug. It is a theory, which is totally untested, that P. ocellatus deliberately shades the chloroplasts from the bright tropical sun. Most chloroplasts have an optimal light intensity at which they photosynthesis. They can be "burnt out" if exposed to too much light. By covering the chloroplasts with the parapodia, P. ocellatus rather than cutting the chloroplasts off from light, is just reducing the light levels to a better level for photosynthesis. Active crawling and mating are often crepuscular with the animals spending much of the time both by day and night resting passively on the bottom with a fine layer of sand covering their bodies.Publisher or University
Kish International Campus, Tehran University