Significance of kleptoplasts for maintenance of Elysia timida (Risso, 1818): (Sacoglossa: Opisthobranchia) in food shortage periods

GIMÉNEZ CASALDUERO, F.; MUNIAIN, C.

JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MARINE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY

Elsevier

Lugar: Alemania; Año: 2008 vol. 357 p. 181 - 187

0022-0981

The importance of photosynthetic products derived from kleptoplasts in several sacoglossan species is being investigated in different fields, like chemistry, biomolecular genetics, and ecology. This work analyzes the effect of kleptoplasts on the maintenance of Elysia timida by evaluating time evolution of chlorophyll concentration, total length and survival of starved E. timida individuals held in the light and in the dark. Although chlorophyll concentration values were similar in the two conditions, individuals held in the dark exhibited a greater size decrease and a lower survival rate (up to 30% lower) than those held in the light after 28 days of experimentation. It is evident that kleptoplasts provide the mollusc with an energy subsidy at the primary metabolism level to compensate for food shortage.