I looked closely at a slug the other week and I noticed dozens of tiny white things crawling very quickly all over it. I'd never noticed them before but now I see them now on every slug I have to eject from my kitchen at night. Can anybody tell me what these things are?
what do those "white things" look like? (shape, colour, texture, etc.) they could be transportation tools too, or their respiratory system.
They're too tiny to see clearly - just white specks. They move quite quickly, but I can't tell if they have legs or not. I assumed that they were some kind of parasite.
I was joking about the eyeballs. I'm positive they wern't legs because slugs move though a pseudopod, it doesn't have legs, just one foot like locomaotion device. It can't be baby slugs ether because slugs lay eggs and the eggs don't hang off of the body. This is another possibility but I don't think so if the white things are moving. The only other thought I have is if the things are on the bottom of the slug, it would be the muscle that helps propel it. Could this be the case?
I'm not sure if these things appear on the bottom, but they very much looked to me like they were not a part of the slug. They looked like separate creatures travelling on the slug like parasites. Really minute though.
I don't think so. I've had a brief look on Google and didn't find anything. I've got a digital camera, but I've tried uploading pictures to this forum before and I don't know how.
I guess I'll keep looking. I'm hoping that someone on this forum happens to be an expert on slugs and related fauna.
I'm curious now. Faulty, e-mail me the pics and I'll host them on my webspace and link them to hear so we can all see. I've sent you a private message telling you my e-mail address
See if you can remove them from the slug or if they're attached. My bet's on parasites. Anyone ever see that weird snail parasite that infects their brains? It sends out pulsing probes that attract birds that get infected and shit out the immature parasite for the snail to eat to get infected. Weird stuff. The snails actually live longer with the parasite than without.
I am not sure what those "white things" actually are, but I can tell ya, slugs use their outer skin as the respiratory membrane for diffusion of gases, it's their respiratory system, that's why they always look wet, becaues oxygen need moist skin to diffuse through (I learned this in biology class Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!)
"Close examination of slugs will often reveal numerous minute creatures running all over their bodies. These little creatures are mites (see Parasites of Man) and they tend to be more frequent on the keeled slugs than on other groups. They don't seem to be hindered by the mucus that coats the slugs and they probably feed on it. The slugs are certainly not inconvenienced by their little passengers and don't so much as cough when the mites scuttle in and out of their breathing pores." from http://www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th11a.htm
I think that's part of it, but don't they also have a hole on the side of their body that they can "breathe" out of? see here
actually some animals like slugs do use their skin as a respiratory membrane since they are small in size, their capillary is just located under the outter skin, and gas exchange can occur efficiently. oxygen enters and carbon dioxide exits according to the concentration gradient and plus it requires a moist skin because oxygen can only diffuse through moist surface, that's why our alveoli (site of gas exchange in lungs of mammals) are very thin and very moist
Well Mr Chips, that sounds exactly like what I saw. Thanks everybody for answering. Thor, I'll see if I can take a picture tonight to email to you.
