Kingdom Animalia Family Limapontiidae Scientific name Placida dendritica Higher classification Placida | Superfamily Limapontioidea Genus Placida Phylum Mollusca Rank Species | |
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Similar Placida, Sacoglossa, Gastropods, Molluscs, Elysia viridis | ||
Placida dendritica is a species of minute sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk or micromollusk in the family Limapontiidae.
Despite a superficial resemblance, this is not a nudibranch, it is a sacoglossan (i.e. it is in the order Sacoglossa).
Like most sacoglossans, Placida dendritica feeds on coenocytic green algae. It is able to retain the chloroplasts for a short period, however the ingested plastids are not functional, and do not provide nutritional benefit to the animal.
Distribution
This species has been reported worldwide, but it is most likely a species complex.
References
Placida dendritica Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA