A team of researchers has identified two varieties of sacoglossal sea slugs that can decapitate themselves and then grow a whole new body like nothing else. The serendipitous find occurred while Sakaya Mitoh of Nara Women’s University in Japan was documenting the developmental stages of sea slugs in a laboratory. One day, he discovered a severed head that was still moving despite being separated from the heart and other vital organs. Later he would discover the discovery of the new body.
According to experts, slugs could be monopolizing the photosynthetic capacity of chloroplasts, which they incorporate into their tissues by trapping algae (a phenomenon known as kleptoplasty). If true, the theory suggests that they live as if it were a leaf, to survive long enough until their second body blooms (from the self-amputee head).
According to the research, the decapitated heads of the oldest slugs generally died in about 10 days , while the heads of the youngest slugs began feeding on algae in a few hours and began working on a new heart in just a week. Three weeks later, the regeneration was complete.
Why do they do it? It is unknown; maybe it could be a way to get rid of parasitized bodies. It is time to continue investigating these amazing animals.
Referencia: Extreme autotomy and whole-body regeneration in photosynthetic sea slugs Sayaka Mitoh Yoichi Yusa DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.014
