Jan 15 2010
Half animal, half plant, 100% creepy.
This Green Sea Slug (Elysia chlorotica, specifically) is the official Underwater Curiosities category challenger on Creepy Animals. We ask:
It is Underwater? Yes.
A Curiosity of sorts? Why yes.
Creepy? Most definitely.
An Animal? Hmm. Not exactly.
That’s because Elysia chlorotica creates chlorophyll, just like a plant. It accomplishes this task by harvesting the genes and photosynthesizing organelles from the Vaucheria algae it ingests. This means the slug is fully equipped to manufacture it’s own food via photosynthesis, which has never been observed in the animal kingdom. It also means that once a young slug eats its first full meal, it never has to eat the algae again.
Dec 27 2009
We never thought the words creepy and vegetarian could ever be used in the same sentence in a contextually sound way. But really, this Vegetarian Spider (the only vegetarian spider) is very seriously creepy. The Vegetarian Spider is a species of jumping spider that favors the buds of acacia plants, among other green items in tropical southeastern Mexico and Costa Rica where it lives.
"I spy with my many eyes...vegetables!" - the spider above
Oct 5 2009
In spite of being just 2mm in length, a super long neck and even longer jaws make this arthopod very creepy. This spider species was discovered in Madagascar in 2006 – while it is one of a family of known Assassin Spiders (those that kill and eat other spiders), it is the only one with dare we say…comically distorted proportions.
How it works:
1. The Assassin Spider uses its elongated jaws to capture prey.
2. Venom in the fangs at the end of the jaw effectively kill the prey.
3. Dinner is served. No webs needed.