Home > Invertebrates > Slugs > Plakobranchidae

Updated 3/9/2025

Order Sacoglossa, Family Plakobranchidae

Sap-sucking Slugs

Specialized slugs with an appetite for green algae.  Chloroplasts are extracted from the algae and stored to assist in photosynthesis, resulting in the green color of many species.  

 

HAWAII / INDO-PACIFIC

Plakobranchus ocellatus

RINGED SAP-SUCKING SLUG

 

 Elysia lobata

LOBED ELYSIA

 
Elysia marginata

ORANGEMARGIN ELYSIA

 

 Elysia rufescens

RUSTY ELYSIA

 
Elysia obtusa

OBTUSE ELYSIA

 

 Elysia tomentosa

HAIRY ELYSIA

 
Elysia nealae

NEAL'S ELYSIA

 

 Thuridilla carlsoni

CARLSON'S THURIDILLA
Thuridilla neona

NEON THURIDILLA

 

 Thuridilla kathae

KATHY'S THURIDILLA

INDO-PACIFIC

Thuridilla lineolata

LINED THURIDILLA

 

 Thuridilla livida

LIVID THURIDILLA
Thuridilla gracilis

GRACEFUL THURIDILLA

 

 Elysia sp. 1

WHITEMARGIN ELYSIA

TROPICAL WESTERN ATLANTIC

Elysia clarki

MANGROVE LETTUCE SLUG

 

 Elysia crispata

LETTUCE SLUG

Family Oxynoidae

These slugs live and feed upon green seaweeds.  They differ from Plakobranchids by possessing a small internal shell.

INDO-WEST PACIFIC / HAWAII

Lobiger viridis

GREEN LOBIGER

 

  

Family Hermaeidae

JAPAN

Hermaea zosterae

ZOSTER'S SACOGLOSSAN