Shaun the sheep (slug)

I know slugs aren’t usually what you think of when you think cute, but have you seen the Shaun the Sheep (or Leaf Sheep) slug? About the size of a grain of rice, this slug (Costasiella kuroshimae) is quite fascinating because it uses photosynthesis, retaining the chloroplasts from the algae they eat in a process known as kleptoplasty.

leaf-sheep-sea-slug-costasiella-kuroshimae-6
Source: Bored Panda

Shaun the Sheep slug isn’t the only cute slug in the seas. Here’s the Sea Bunny slug:

These Strange Slugs are the Bunnies of the Sea - YouTube
Source: YouTube

But really, there are so many pretty slugs…

Aren’t they lovely! So, have I converted you? Are you now a fan of sea slugs?

8 comments on “Shaun the sheep (slug)

  1. They ARE cute, yes, and since they’re under the sea the chances are excellent that I’ll never meet one face-to-face, I can appreciate their beauty.

    • What do you think of garden slugs? They are much nicer than garden slugs which I’m sure you’ve come face to face with (although there are some fascinating garden slugs, hmmm, future post maybe).

  2. Those are quite colorful.

    • The colours are amazing. Quite a few are toxic which is why they can get away with being so attention grabbing, I guess.

  3. One, two, three
    geek out with me.

    I thought Shaun the Sheep Slug was called a sea bunny

    We have a few colorful slugs in our waters, but mostly we have Sea Hares. They are so cool to watch swim, it almost looks like some alien flying along.

    There are also solar powered sea slugs, damn this world is amazing.

  4. The world is an incredible place – we just need to take a moment to notice. Sea hares are quite big aren’t they? At least they are in Australia. They aren’t as pretty but I agree with their alien-esque swimming style.

    • The Sooty or Mottled Sea Hare that lives in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico grow to about 40cm. That is less than half the size of the Black or California sea Hare; the largest species of them in the world.

      There is a sea slug forum that has a list of all of the currently named animals. I’m sure there are still plenty of them that haven’t been discovered, officially, yet.

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