"They're not found in coral reefs but in areas next to coral reefs," Gosliner said. Leaf sheep live on Avrainvillea, a fuzzy, felty type of algae growing in areas with soft substrates, such as silt or fine sand. Then, they discard their shells and begin their life as a small slug," he said. "The eggs hatch into shelled larvae that spend a week or two in the plankton. According to Gosliner, leaf sheep are hermaphrodites (having both male and female reproductive organs) and must mate with another individual to produce an egg mass. "They're just great little slugs."Īnd little they are, growing to a maximum length of seven or eight millimetres upon adulthood and living between six months and a year. "People are captivated by the leaf sheep because it has a cute face and an interesting shape," said Terrence Gosliner, senior curator of invertebrate zoology and geology at the California Academy of Sciences and a sea slug expert who has focused most of his research on the myriad species found in the Philippines. Meanwhile, rhinophores pick up chemical signals in the water, giving the sea slug its sense of smell and enabling it to find food sources. The sea slug's cerata are leaflike appendages akin to an aloe vera plant or a zebra succulent but typically with pink, purple or white tips, and they contain branches of digestive gland. This marine invertebrate has black beady eyes situated close together, rhinophores with black tips resembling sheep's ears or insect antennae sticking out of its white head and dotted green cerata popping out of the upper surface of its body. They have a routine life, circling the leaf of an algae and grazing about in their own little world." "Leaf sheep don't hide or retract when they feel your presence. "They're delicate creatures and their bodies are like shell-less snails," said Genevieve Reyes, a diver and photographer. Contrary to what its name suggests, the leaf sheep is neither leaf nor sheep – it's a sea slug. "Shaun the Sheep" is what many divers in the Philippines affectionately call a curious sea creature known as the leaf sheep ( Costasiella kuroshimae) due to its similarity to the animated lamb.
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