Newly-discovered 'fashionista' slug is slimy hot pink

Whoever says slugs are dull and fashion-challenged hasn't seen this hot-pink slug in Australia: you could say it's the "fashionista" of the slime world.

 

This big slug, Triboniophorus aff. graeffei, is a newly-discovered species of slug measuring 20cm (8in) found on Mount Kaputar in Australia, according to a report on National Geographic.

 

Because the pink slugs live in beds of red eucalyptus leaves, their color could serve as camouflage, according to Australia’s National Parks and Wildlife Service ranger, Michael Murphy.

 

“However, [the slugs] also spend a lot of their time high on tree trunks nowhere near fallen leaves, so it is possible that the color is just a quirk of evolution. I think if you are isolated on a remote mountaintop, you can pretty much be whatever color you like,” he added.

A species of its own
 

National Geographic noted that, while scientists were already aware of a bright-pink slug living on Kaputar, recent research showed that it is actually a distinct species.

“Recent morphological and genetics work by a researcher working on this slug family—the Athorcophoridae—has indicated the Kaputar slugs are a unique species endemic to Mount Kaputar and the only representative of this family in inland Australia,” Murphy said.

Researchers have also identified other invertebrate species unique to Mount Kaputar, such as the Kaputar hairy snail and the Kaputar cannibal snail.

 

“They are a unique and colorful part of our natural heritage, and we should do everything we can to avoid causing their extinction,” Murphy said.

 

For now, the Australian government is trying to protect this and other unique species by designating their mountain home in New South Wales as an ”endangered ecological area.”

Quirk of evolution?

 

The National Geographic report said the pink slug could have been a quirk of evolution, as the environment in Kaputar had been relatively insulated from the changing environment.

 

It said Australia was part of a larger southern continent known as Gondwana millions of years ago. This continent included Australia, Papua New Guinea, India, and parts of Africa and South America, and was covered in rain forests similar to those of modern-day Papua New Guinea.

 

Some 17 million years ago, a volcanic eruption on Mount Kaputar kept a small 10-square km area "lush and wet" while much of the rest of Australia became a desert.

 

"This changing environment marooned the plants and animals living on Mount Kaputar from their nearest neighbors for millions of years, making the area a unique haven for species such as the pink slug," it said.

 

Important role in ecosystem

 

Murphy said the slugs play important roles in their ecosystems, such as recycling plant matter.

 

“I’m a big believer in invertebrates. People tend to focus on the cute and cuddly bird and mammal species like koalas. But these little behind-the-scenes invertebrates really drive whole ecosystems,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Service. — TJD, GMA News