Blogger Hannah has some serious pride for her new school mascot, the banana slug. She dives into the scientific background of the species, even includes some fun facts.–Editor Elizabeth
by Hannah Hall, Nature Correspondent
This upcoming fall, I will be attending the University of California at Santa Cruz. And, you may be wondering why that is relevant. Well, our mascot is “yellow and slimy.” Our mascot is the Banana Slug!
The banana slug is a gastropod invertebrate (mucus secreting, spineless creature) that can usually be found in yellow, which is where they get their “banana” name from. They can also be seen in shades of brown, white and green—sometimes a speckled combination of multiple colors! Banana slugs can be found all over the Pacific Northwest from some areas in Alaska, all the way to Central California. They are native in forest habitats, and flourish in the moisture. In fact, their slime is based off of the moisture surrounding them. Their slime is actually crystallized. When the substance comes in contact with moisture it can absorb up to 100 times its size, which is what we then recognize as goopy slime. Their slime serves a few purposes. Firstly, it is protective. When predators try to eat the slug, the slime actually numbs their tongue, which can lend to their escape from the jaws of death. Secondly, it acts as a skin barrier. Their slime is practically moisture retaining lotion that prevents their skin from becoming dehydrated. Thirdly, it helps with moving. Yes, it helps with inching around—at their top speed of only 6.5 inches per-minute—but it also helps with the moving of their food. Oftentimes banana slugs will use their slime to push debris on them to their tail, so they can turn around and eat it off of themselves. And, speaking of food, they are pretty much nature’s compost bin. They are known as vegetarian decomposers that feed off of animal droppings and dying/dead plants such as fruit, moss, and mushrooms. Their waste then serves as nitrogen-rich fertilizer which is good for the forest floor.
You may be wondering how banana slugs reproduce. Banana slugs are in fact hermaphrodites, “which means they possess both male and female sex organs simultaneously” (NatGeo). This also means that as much as they have the opportunity to mate with others—“courting,” they can also mate with themselves. Although when they do mate with others, sometimes they have trouble….detaching….for lack of better terms. The University of Puget Sound states, “if they are unable to [detach,] one or both will finally start chewing and bite off the [sex] organ of the other slug. This behavior is called apophallation and seems unique to slugs.”
Summing up the basic facts about my new beloved mascot, hopefully you find the species as interesting as I do. #GoSlugs
Editor-in-Chief: Elizabeth Shay
Sources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/facts/banana-slug
https://www.nilesbio.com/prod342.html
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