Self-decapitating slug

March 10, 2021 3:24 AM

Two species of sea slugs take their own heads off and regenerate their bodies. "Heads of young Elysia cf. marginata sea slugs can pull themselves free from their bodies and just keep crawling around while growing a new body, report ecologists at Nara Women’s University in Japan. Within a few hours, some separated heads start nibbling on algae again, Sayaka Mitoh and Yoichi Yusa report March 8 in Current Biology. And within about 20 days, a third of the young sea slugs they watched had grown their bodies back, heart and all."

The current theory is that the slugs do this to get away from internal parasites. The heads survive, the bodies don't.

posted by Nancy Lebovitz (28 comments total)

Correction: many of the heads survive, not all of them.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 3:25 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Missing a hashtag #NewSkillsForFacultyMeetings
posted by lalochezia at 3:31 AM on March 10, 2021 [20 favorites]

Is it possible to learn this power?
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:02 AM on March 10, 2021 [4 favorites]

In this department, flatworms kick slug ass.
posted by aeshnid at 4:37 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

There's a certain scene from The Thing that comes to mind.
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:42 AM on March 10, 2021 [5 favorites]

This is great, my head can be on a boring Zoom call, and my parasite-ridden body can be out there enjoying life
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 4:43 AM on March 10, 2021 [21 favorites]

aeshnid, thank you. That's sufficiently amazing and I will be sharing it.

Part of the big deal with the slugs is that they regenerate hearts.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 4:58 AM on March 10, 2021

And also, slugs self-decapitate and regenerate in the wild. I'm on Team Slug *and* Team Planarian.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 5:03 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

There's a certain scene from The Thing that comes to mind.

Also, The Rook.
posted by trig at 5:12 AM on March 10, 2021 [3 favorites]

Whoa, that book looks cool, trig!
posted by Don.Kinsayder at 5:36 AM on March 10, 2021

Is it possible to learn this power?

Not from a Jedi.
posted by DreamerFi at 6:13 AM on March 10, 2021 [8 favorites]

As a migraine sufferer, I've fantasized about doing this. I'd settle for being able to take off my head and just run cold water through it.

The article doesn't say if it hurts though. Or, what the body feels while it's left behind.
posted by gladly at 6:25 AM on March 10, 2021 [4 favorites]

Wasn't this a Buffy episode? Or was it Supernatural?
posted by theora55 at 6:47 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Perry Bible Fellowship has been all over this particular beat.
posted by saladin at 6:50 AM on March 10, 2021 [3 favorites]

I was just a growing head...slide and stumble, slide and tumble...keep them tidy, keep them humble....etc. Moebius Eno

Great article, thanks for posting!
posted by effluvia at 8:27 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

I've known people who screwed their heads off.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:33 AM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

"I need this like I need a hole in my head."
"You mean wholly your head?"
posted by doctornemo at 12:01 PM on March 10, 2021

Or, what the body feels while it's left behind.

It's not mad, it's just disappointed.
posted by star gentle uterus at 1:21 PM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

Correction: many of the heads survive, not all of them.

#notallheads
posted by TedW at 1:33 PM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

The sidebar stories are equally insightful: "Sea slug carries disposable penis, plus spares", "Sea slug steals genes for greens, makes chlorophyll like a plant".
posted by senor biggles at 1:59 PM on March 10, 2021 [5 favorites]

it's a rough thing, to be jealous of a slug
posted by rifflesby at 3:17 PM on March 10, 2021

When the frozen head of Peter Thiel regenerates as a sea slug I will laugh and laugh and laugh
posted by flabdablet at 3:40 PM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

I think they've got it backwards. Ideally, I'd slough off this head and let it regrow over a month or more. Be right back
posted by sneebler at 8:02 PM on March 10, 2021 [1 favorite]

I'm on Team Slug *and* Team Planarian.

That's a winner no matter how you slice it.
posted by y2karl at 8:14 PM on March 10, 2021 [4 favorites]

First the Immortal Jellyfish, and now this.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 10:33 PM on March 10, 2021

lalochezia: "Missing a hashtag #NewSkillsForFacultyMeetings"

"I like your style."
posted by Rhaomi at 2:49 PM on March 11, 2021

Hah, I didn't want to derail the thread, but since I guess that's not a problem -- yes Don.Kinsayder, it's a fun read!
posted by trig at 3:08 PM on March 11, 2021 [1 favorite]

Yes, I have regenerated several times. Don't miss the old bodies much but have kept all the heads.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 3:10 PM on March 11, 2021 [2 favorites]