Beautiful “Leaf Sheep” Sea Slugs Have The Appearance Of Cartoon Sheep

Photo source: Lynn Wu

Costasiella kuroshimae is a sacoglossan sea slug that is also known as a "leaf slug," "leaf sheep," or "salty ocean caterpillar." Costasiella kuroshimae is a species of shellless marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the Costasiellidae family. They vary in length from 5 millimeters (0.20 in) to 1 centimeter (0.39 in).

Leaf slugs were discovered in 1993 off the shore of the Japanese island of Kuroshima and have since been detected in waters around Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia. They feature two black eyes and two rhinophores that protrude from the tops of their heads and resemble sheep's ears or insect antennae therefore the popular name "leaf sheep." Costasiella kuroshimae and other sea slugs may discover food sources thanks to the rhinophores' tiny hairs that detect compounds in the water.

This beautiful small sea slug with its beady eyes and cute feelers that feed on algae like a cartoon sheep - precisely like the real thing with drooping feelers and a phosphorescent, leaf-like body, maybe the prettiest slug in the sea!

They feed on green algae and utilize the chloroplasts in their diet to produce their own energy through a process known as kleptoplasty. Leaf sheep, one of the world's only non-plant creatures capable of photosynthesis, can survive for several months on the energy provided through kleptoplasty.

The Costasiella kuroshimae (aka Leaf Sheep) is a sea slug that resembles a cartoon sheep.