Kleptoplasty
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
Kleptoplasty is a phenomenon whereby plastids from algae are sequestered by a host organism. The algae is eaten normally and partially digested, leaving only the plastid. This plastid is maintained, continuing to fix carbon for the host's nutrition. Sacoglossan sea slugs and foraminifera are the two most prominent kleptoplastic organisms.
