Meeting Abstract
Elysia papillosa is a kleptoplastic, sacoglossan sea slug always found, associated with either of two species of the siphonaceous green alga, Penicillus capitatus, but also less frequently, with the co-occurring P. lamourouxii. In order to determine if E. papillosa was actually consuming either of the two algal species in the field, total DNA was extracted from individual slugs immediately upon collection from Sunset Beach, Tarpon Springs, FL and the gene sequence of rbcL (large subunit of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase-a chloroplast geneomic gene) was determined by PCR. These PCR sequences were BLAST searched for matches to algal species rbcL sequences. The rbcL sequence from slugs collected off of P. lamourouxii matched (98-100% sequence identity) to P. lamourouxii rbcL. Similarly, rbcL in slugs collected with P. capitatus matched the rbcL sequence of P. capitatus. Therefore, E. papillosa were consuming the same algal species from which they were collected. In a laboratory feeding experiment, E. papillosa fed P. lamourouxii over three weeks grew significantly longer than those fed P. capitatus. These findings suggest that although feeding by E. papillosa on P. lamourouxii occurs in the field and results in larger slugs, P. capitatus is more attractive to slugs.
