A peculiar marine creature that looks remarkably like a sheep

The blue ocean covers more than 70% of the Earth's surface and is home to many unique and beautiful marine creatures. One such creature, affectionately known as the "leaf slug" or "leaf goat," has recently gained significant attention online due to its adorable appearance, seemingly straight out of an anime.

The leaf slug's formal scientific name is *Costasiella kuroshimae*, and it was first discovered off the coast of Kurocho, Japan in 1993, hence its name. It belongs to a subspecies of sea slug, class Gastropoda, phylum Mollusca. They are very small, ranging from 3 millimeters to 1 centimeter in length, and feed on seaweed. They are mainly distributed in the coral reefs along the coasts of Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

This sea slug has a white head with a pair of small, black, bead-like eyes and two adorable, horn-like tentacles,

making it look like a cartoon sheep. Its overall appearance is as if it's wrapped in layers of leaves, so fans prefer to call it "Leaf Sheep" rather than its formal name.

Besides its cute appearance, the Leaf Sheep is also one of the few animals in the world capable of photosynthesis. This marine creature possesses a "kleptoplasty," which allows it to absorb chloroplasts from seaweed and convert them into its own body. This means that after eating seaweed just once, the Leaf Sheep gains the ability to photosynthesize; it can convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars for energy simply by basking in the sun.

However, because the chloroplasts come from seaweed, the Leaf Sheep must replenish its seaweed intake after a period of time to continue photosynthesis and sustain life.

In its juvenile stage, the Leaf Sheep's body is white and transparent, but as it begins to feed on seaweed, it gradually turns a plant-like green, radiating a sunlight-green hue. In other words, seaweed not only allows them to survive in a unique way, but it also alters their color.

However, some photographers have captured images of leaf sheep with bodies displaying different colors, which may be related to the different types of seaweed they prey on.