The Best Article You’ve Ever Read About Sea Slugs

March 11, 2021

The word autotomy describe an animal’s ability to self-amputate, typically as a response to a threat. While most of us are familiar with a lizard’s tail popping off so the rest of it can run free… I had no idea that some sea slugs have the ability to amputate their own heads, leaving their bodies behind.

My jaw dropped on reading Annie Roth’s article, Meet the Sea Slugs That Chop Off Their Heads and Grow New Bodies.

This act of self-beheading is done, apparently, as a reaction to the body becoming infested with parasites. There are any number of insane moments and revelations in this article, and I can’t stress how incredible it all is.

[Ms. Mitoh] added that she expected the slug “would die quickly without a heart and other important organs.” But it not only continued to live, it also regenerated the entirety of its lost body within three weeks.

The caption on the video itself is also mind-numbing in its message and terseness:

The body, still alive, reacts slightly when touched by the head.

I lost track of how many times I said “What?” out loud.

compelling read

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