coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Sept 24, 2010 19:41:30 GMT
I took these pics of a banana slug (Ariolimax sp.) near the shore of Schilling Lake in Thornewood Open Space Preserve, San Mateo County, California. Mr Coyote and I saw a couple of these slugs when we were there on Sunday; this one was about 8" (20 cm) long. They are very common in redwood forests not far from creeks, crawling about on the forest floor even in the daytime. They feed on detritus, leaf litter, green plants, fungi and sometimes small dead animals. Banana slugs play an important role in maintaining the existence of redwood forests by eating plant seedlings which are redwood competitors for space, water, light and nutrients, and leaving redwood seedlings alone.
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Post by crossless on Sept 24, 2010 22:15:05 GMT
Beautiful. I love that "cap" dehind of it's stalks.
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apple
Archachatina degneri
Posts: 1,078
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Post by apple on Sept 25, 2010 2:13:04 GMT
Very nice picture and slug!
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Post by marianne on Sept 25, 2010 18:55:40 GMT
Lovely contrast!! Good looking slug!!
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Post by 101100101111 on Sept 27, 2010 18:13:43 GMT
lovely slugs! they look kind of like Veronicella Sloanei with that cap, but more yellowy!
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Oct 28, 2010 6:00:56 GMT
Oh Hai! Here is another banana slug, on the trail at Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve, Santa Clara County, California. This preserve is mostly chaparral and mixed oak woodlands, so we were surprised to see a banana slug outside of its usual redwood forest habitat.
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apple
Archachatina degneri
Posts: 1,078
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Post by apple on Oct 28, 2010 23:17:41 GMT
That´s amazing, Coyote!
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Oct 29, 2010 21:15:26 GMT
Thanks, Apple. I took several pictures and most were out of focus. I got lucky with that one. (I just wish its other lower tentacle wasn't retracted when I clicked the shutter.)
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Post by ness on Oct 30, 2010 11:12:27 GMT
Oooh well spotted, and lovely photo
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Post by Robert Nordsieck on Feb 19, 2011 20:29:48 GMT
Hi there, I just came across one of those, when I was re-watching my StarTrek Enterprise DVDs: The first alien species the Enterprise took aboards since starting on its mission was a slug! > ST ENT Episode " Fight or Flight" At the end of the episode it was set free on a planet, which I estimate as much too dry for a slug...! Speaking of the mantle shield of those slugs: I once saw Limax maximus (tiger slugs) flapping theirs like wings when they were sprinkled with water (and also when they were agitated)! A quite asounding view! Attachments:
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Feb 20, 2011 0:41:59 GMT
That's a beautiful slug, very well camouflaged. Banana slugs are such a bright yellow in contrast to the brown and gray tones of the forest floor that they are very conspicuous.
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jessicamartin
Achatina achatina
Jessica and Drew's Wonder Zoo.
Posts: 58
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Post by jessicamartin on Jul 26, 2011 15:55:11 GMT
Coyote, your photos are beautiful! the photography standard on this forum just gets better and better :')
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Jul 27, 2011 6:22:07 GMT
Thanks. Mr Coyote is a professional photographer, so I have a good teacher. And these beautiful creatures inspire me to take the best possible photos of them to share with others.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Nov 19, 2011 21:21:16 GMT
Beautiful slugs and lovely pictures!
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Post by axoloa on Nov 19, 2011 21:42:17 GMT
Absolutly beautiful.. Its a shame these are so difficult to get hold of in captivity...
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Post by axoloa on Nov 19, 2011 21:44:37 GMT
Nice picture Robert.. I have a few Limax Maximus myself, these laid eggs at the start of spring... Only about 10 of them hatched :/
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Post by pinkunicorn on Nov 20, 2011 14:33:12 GMT
Nice picture Robert.. I have a few Limax Maximus myself, these laid eggs at the start of spring... Only about 10 of them hatched :/ I hope you got to witness them mating! It's... a spectacular show.
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Post by axoloa on Nov 20, 2011 15:36:01 GMT
Hi Pinkunicorn... Unfortunatly I completly missed that :/ Though I did have ideas that they had mated, due to a thick 8.3cm long string of slime hanging of the highest branch in their enclosure. Sounds realy pathetic, but I had to measure it lol. I was trying to work out how it got their and then it just occured to me. I had read somewhere about how they mated, but it said nothing about them leaving the "love string" behind lol.
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Post by pinkunicorn on Nov 20, 2011 16:45:53 GMT
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leila
Achatina achatina
Posts: 85
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Post by leila on Dec 15, 2011 1:43:19 GMT
I have some old pics of my banana slugs mating somewhere on my old camera (I'll try to find them this weekend and post them so you guys can see)
and on a different note, i was wondering what you guys have observed about the heredity of these guys, going to like nature parks and stuff for field trips when i was little i noticed a lot more spotted slugs and around my house like 65% are the same base color but dont have any spots and i have never seen any of the bright yellow ones in the wild... so my question for all of you is just what youve observed with them and if the spots are just random or are something passed down regularly, and if anyone has noticed any huge differences between the greenish/yellow slugs and the bright yellow ones (like the ones already posted)
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coyote
Archachatina papyracea
Cochleas ego amo
Posts: 2,955
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Post by coyote on Dec 16, 2011 0:07:36 GMT
Where I go I tend to see the bright yellow ones. I've read that what the slug eats affects it coloration, so there would be some variation based on what was available to eat in any particular habitat.
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leila
Achatina achatina
Posts: 85
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Post by leila on Dec 16, 2011 2:13:17 GMT
o cool that would be an interesting long term project to do with like siblings or something... feed them different diets and see how it affects them
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Post by pinkunicorn on Feb 1, 2012 23:35:05 GMT
How do the bananas do in captivity? Do they need redwood forest specific conditions?
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leila
Achatina achatina
Posts: 85
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Post by leila on Aug 22, 2012 3:54:02 GMT
I've kept them for years with no problems... I live in washington state and it seems the ones from california have the bright yellow coloring and the ones here are paler and may or may not have spots.
In my experience they do great in captivity though they are native to my area so I just keep them outside and spray them and sometimes have a reptile heating pad under the tank. If you were looking to keep them yourself I would just look up average temps where yours were originally from and try to replicate that.
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Post by wibblywobblytimeywimey on Nov 17, 2012 17:38:49 GMT
Now we can try and establish a five a day of snails and slugs. First the garlic snail, apple snail and banana slug. Very healthy slimyness!
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