The Spectacular Sea Sheep (Costasiella kuroshimae)
The Sea Sheep or Leaf sheep can be found in the waters around Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines, growing up to 5mm in length
They are one of the only sea creatures in the world that can perform photosynthesis (the others all belong to the sacoglossa sea slug).
When the Sea Sheep eats algae, they take chloroplasts from the food source and incorporate them into their own cells in a process called kleptoplasty.
The root word klepto- comes from the Greek word for thief. Organisms capable of kleptoplasty typically eat algae or aquatic plants and “steal” the undigested chloroplasts.
This process, which otherwise can only be performed by single-celled organisms, essentially makes them solar-powered slugs.
Well I never knew that!
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