Salt and Slugs

[Orleander]

why does salt hurt/kill slugs?

[youreyes]

Salt absorbs water, slugs loose water, they die.

http://boingboing.net/2012/06/13/sal...tupid-slu.html

[Orleander]

so salt water wouldn't kill them, just pure salt?

[youreyes]

There are plenty of sea slugs in the salty waters of the seas
I am sure however that the slugs on the surface wouldn't be too happy to be in the sea either.

[Trippy]

so salt water wouldn't kill them, just pure salt?

Osmosis on Wiki

A sufficiently saline sloution would kill them just as readily as pure salt.

It's the same reason you don't put fresh water fish in salt water (or vice versa).

[Asguard]

Osmosis on Wiki

A sufficiently saline sloution would kill them just as readily as pure salt.

It's the same reason you don't put fresh water fish in salt water (or vice versa).

Well actually you CAN put some fresh water fish in salt water, mollies for instance are used to dirty up a new salt water tank because they are cheep, hardy and VERY messy which forces the bacteria levels to rise. You just have to acclimatise them slowly

[Trippy]

Well actually you CAN put some fresh water fish in salt water, mollies for instance are used to dirty up a new salt water tank because they are cheep, hardy and VERY messy which forces the bacteria levels to rise. You just have to acclimatise them slowly

Yes, I'm aware that there are some fresh water fish that you can put in a salt water, and some fish which are able to cope with large variations in salinity. However, as a general rule...

[youreyes]

In a more subtly defined context on why is it exactly that salt water kills the fresh water fish ...

The ions making up the dissolved salt in the salt water jiggle at random due to Brownian motion. The ions bounce against all of the boundaries of the salt water, including a free surface. The free surface is where the salt water meets the air. When the ions making up the salt bounce against the free surface, the jiggling ions press against the liquid water molecules at the free surface. The liquid water molecules at the free surface are bonded to all of the other liquid water molecules and pull on all of the liquid water molecules, including the pure water on the other side of the semi permeable membrane. The pressure exerted by the ions making up the salt bouncing against the free surface pulls water through the semi permeable membrane

http://yarbroughlaw.com/Patent Projects/Everything you were taught is wrong.htm

[Enmos]

why does salt hurt/kill slugs?

Pour some salt into your eyes and find out.

[KilljoyKlown]

Pour some salt into your eyes and find out.

Ouch! That hurts!

[Read-Only]

Yes, I'm aware that there are some fresh water fish that you can put in a salt water, and some fish which are able to cope with large variations in salinity. However, as a general rule...

Yep. Another good example is salmon. They grow in fresh water until they migrate to salt water in the sea. And then they return from the salt water of the sea back to the fresh water to spawn.

And yet another example of the same sort of thing which also involves the variation in salinity you mentioned. Fish that spawn and begin their lives in saltwater marshes that get flooded with fresh water - greatly reducing the salinity every time there's a substantial rain in the area.

[KilljoyKlown]

why does salt hurt/kill slugs?

Did you forget about those speedy land snails? They foam up real good when you add salt.

[Captain Kremmen]

Salt is a terribly painful death for slugs.
They die in agony.
But they deserve it.

[wellwisher]

If you want to see something similar to slugs/salt, spray the slugs with liquid ammonia. The slugs will melt into a puddle. Unlike salt which dehydrates the slugs, the annomia appear to alter the interactions between water and protein so the slug changes from semi-solid to a liquid.

[KilljoyKlown]

If you want to see something similar to slugs/salt, spray the slugs with liquid ammonia. The slugs will melt into a puddle. Unlike salt which dehydrates the slugs, the annomia appear to alter the interactions between water and protein so the slug changes from semi-solid to a liquid.

Yuk! Gag me with a spoon.

[youreyes]

Salt is a terribly painful death for slugs.
They die in agony.
But they deserve it.

slugs don't deserve to die ... especially in agony. Just like vampires who must exist by biting into victims necks, not because of preference, but because of a will to live on and enjoy what life has to give. Or mosquitos for example...no one deserves a painful death.

[KilljoyKlown]

slugs don't deserve to die ... especially in agony. Just like vampires who must exist by biting into victims necks, not because of preference, but because of a will to live on and enjoy what life has to give. Or mosquitoes for example...no one deserves a painful death.

How does anyone know what is painful to a bug or slug, seems to me it would take more of a brain to really suffer much pain. But what do I know?

[youreyes]

How does anyone know what is painful to a bug or slug, seems to me it would take more of a brain to really suffer much pain. But what do I know?

I bet the Gods say the same thing when they look down on people, oh what do they know such frail creatures of anything of life. Well every creatures exists to survive and procreate one way or another, pain is a way to tell the creature that something is going wrong and will lead to death much quicker than if it was by a natural cause.
The reference is to the sea slug neuron: http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases...rding.hrs.html
And neurons are there to signal the slug to avoid damage, to avoid pain.

[KilljoyKlown]

I bet the Gods say the same thing when they look down on people, oh what do they know such frail creatures of anything of life. Well every creatures exists to survive and procreate one way or another, pain is a way to tell the creature that something is going wrong and will lead to death much quicker than if it was by a natural cause.
The reference is to the sea slug neuron: http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases...rding.hrs.html
And neurons are there to signal the slug to avoid damage, to avoid pain.

Yes, but I think it's a mistake to equate their pain as the same way we suffer pain. Plants also try to avoid death, but no one complains of causing plants pain and suffering. When you take soap and wash your hands, do you even consider all those bacteria you are killing? Or do you assume they going down the drain fat and happy? A slug or snail is a garden pest, and I have little sympathy for them and whatever kills them is okay with me.

[youreyes]

Yes, but I think it's a mistake to equate their pain as the same way we suffer pain. Plants also try to avoid death, but no one complains of causing plants pain and suffering. When you take soap and wash your hands, do you even consider all those bacteria you are killing? Or do you assume they going down the drain fat and happy? A slug or snail is a garden pest, and I have little sympathy for them and whatever kills them is okay with me.

No but the difference here is that we as consciouss being cause the death of other beings and take enjoyment from such practice. Thing is, a snail/slug in your garden is a pest and what kills them is okey in terms of morality. But taking pride in doing so is immoral in my sense. It is same with bacteria washed by soap, kill to survive. Do not kill for enjoyment, that is wrong.