# Sea slug which is part animal, part plant **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 13, 2010, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-slug-which-is-part-animal-part-plant/524768 "2010-01-13T07:52:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-slug-which-is-part-animal-part-plant/524768/1 "2010-01-13T07:52:24Z")
…and produces its own chlorophyll. :eek: \*A green sea slug appears to be part animal, part plant. It’s the first critter discovered to produce the plant pigment chlorophyll. The sneaky slugs seem to have stolen the genes that enable this skill from algae that they’ve eaten. With their contraband genes, the slugs can carry out photosynthesis — the process plants use to convert sunlight into energy\* Story from [msnbc.](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34824610/ns/technology_and_science-science/?GT1=43001). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-slug-which-is-part-animal-part-plant/524768/2 "2010-01-13T12:24:28Z")
They break down the algae cells, & steal the genes & chloroplasts? Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-slug-which-is-part-animal-part-plant/524768/3 "2010-01-13T13:14:54Z")
I think the implication here is that one of their ancestors hijacked the algal genes, and now they’re part of the slug’s own genome. Animals that capture chloroplasts or algae and farm them internally are nothing new - this sounds like a case where the animal has hacked its own genes. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-slug-which-is-part-animal-part-plant/524768/4 "2010-01-13T13:46:15Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Animals that capture chloroplasts or algae and farm them internally are nothing new Please give some references and fight ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-slug-which-is-part-animal-part-plant/524768/5 "2010-01-13T14:08:47Z")
> [@indian](#): > > Please give some references and fight ignorance. The [giant clam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tridacna_gigas), for instance. I remember some jellyfish who did that as well. And almost all corals, and lichens. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-slug-which-is-part-animal-part-plant/524768/6 "2010-01-13T14:53:01Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Animals that capture chloroplasts or algae and farm them internally . I take it that " farm them internally " means use it for purposes other than food . Is it so ? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-slug-which-is-part-animal-part-plant/524768/7 "2010-01-13T15:10:10Z")
> [@indian](#): > > I take it that " farm them internally " means use it for purposes other than food . Is it so ? Yep, the same way we develop a helpful group of intestinal fauna and flora. We aren’t born with them, and can’t produce them, we just pick them up along the way and symbiosis has developed. The artical is suggesting that these slugs actually ahve the production of chlorophyll as an inate ability. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sea-slug-which-is-part-animal-part-plant/524768/8 "2010-01-13T16:32:31Z")
> [@indian](#): > > I take it that " farm them internally " means use it for purposes other than food . Is it so ? Yes, in some cases (jellyfish, I think), the organism captures and absorbs single-celled algae - the algae use water, sunlight and the host organism’s waste products to produce sugars - the host organism attacks the algae (with enzymes or something), causing them to leak sugars, but without actually killing them.