Pacific Banana Slug
The Pacific banana slug (Ariolimax columbianus) is a large yellow slug of the redwood and rainforests of the Pacific coast of North America. It is the second-largest slug in the world, up to about 25 centimeters.
The Pacific banana slug (Ariolimax columbianus) is a large yellow slug of the redwood and rainforests of the Pacific coast of North America. It is the second-largest slug in the world, up to about 25 centimeters.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Pacific Banana Slug in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Lophotrochozoa lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
Forest Recyclers
The slug eats leaf litter, mushrooms, animal droppings and dead material and spreads fungal spores and seeds. It is among the main decomposers in redwood forests.
Slime and Defense
The thick slime is slightly numbing to a predator's tongue and makes it unpalatable. The slug also uses chemical cues to find mates; the animals are hermaphrodites and sometimes mate by chewing off a partner's penis, called apophallation.
A School Mascot
It is the mascot of the University of California, Santa Cruz. See Garden Snail.
Pacific Banana Slug at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Ariolimax columbianus |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Mollusca |
| Class | Gastropoda |
| Order | Stylommatophora |
| Family | Ariolimacidae |
| Field Guide group | Lophotrochozoa: Worms, Shells & Allies |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Bright yellow, sometimes black-spotted, shell-less forest crawler up to 25 cm; breathes through a hole in its mantle and recycles fallen leaves. |
| Class | Gastropoda |
| Length | Up to about 25 centimeters |
See Also
- Garden Snail — a garden gastropod
- Coast Redwood — the tree it lives beneath