Can we talk real quick about cnidophages? No seriously this is worth it. This is my story I tell when people ask me for my best animal fact.
You may have seen pictures of pretty sea slugs like these blue sea dragons before. But they have a secret.
You may have seen pictures of pretty sea slugs like these blue sea dragons before. But they have a secret.
They, like other species of sea slug, eat cnidarians like jellyfish, hydroids and sea anemones — creatures with stinging cells. But they do not get stung.
(Here's another one, Hermissenda crassicornis. I did research on this one's brain in my undergrad.)
(Here's another one, Hermissenda crassicornis. I did research on this one's brain in my undergrad.)
Why don't they get stung? They're STEALING THE STINGING CELLS
(Here's one called Aeolidia papillosa, eating an anemone that SHOULD BE STINGING IT BUT IT ISN'T)
(Here's one called Aeolidia papillosa, eating an anemone that SHOULD BE STINGING IT BUT IT ISN'T)
When they steal the stinging cells, they use them for their own defence. Like little guerrilla fighters.
(Aeolidiella glauca with its neat spiral egg pattern)
(Aeolidiella glauca with its neat spiral egg pattern)
BONUS: Their digestive systems actually sort out which stinging cells they can use and which they can't. The author of this paper said how this all works remains unknown "but must be regarded as a masterpiece." Which it is. uu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.j…
