![\"Mangrove](\"\/images\/2006\/20061211_5.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMore weird creature brought to you by Smoke Head. I think you all have seen the slug (a.k.a. Running-Nose Bug. Named after its wet and mucous body), right? The normal slug is usually smooth and black in color. When I first saw it, I thought it was a snail that forgot to bring its shell.<\/p>\n
Slug is one of the most hatred pests of the farmers coz it can wipe out the leaf vegetable overnight. To kill it, just pour a bit of salt on its body. Very soon, the osmosis process will suck the water and fluid out of its body, and murder it eventually.<\/p>\n
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The Mangrove Slug (Family Onchidiidae) is totally different. Its skin is rough and spiky. I wonder if this is the secret protection that enables them to crawl on the salty floor of mangrove forest. They are only about 1 inch (2.5cm) in length. <\/p>\n
![\"Mangrove](\"\/images\/2006\/20061211.jpg\")
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Guess what? They don’t eat leaf. During low tide, you can see them busy grazing above muddy ground and surface algae. Their brown skin color blend well into the soil and they move very slowly. So it is not easy to spot these tiny creatures. I discovered they could change color too.<\/p>\n
![\"Mangrove](\"\/images\/2006\/20061211_2.jpg\")
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This morning I saw about 10 of them resting in a small and exposed area, with part of their bodies immersed in the water. I thought they were all death coz their skin color was so pale (see picture below).<\/p>\n
![\"Mangrove](\"\/images\/2006\/20061211_3.jpg\")
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I used my fingers to touch their eyes and they contracted (still alive then). And most of them opened their anus fully. I stood there and waited, hoping to see something such as shit or egg came out. But nothing. After hour of sunbathe, their skin color back to normal then they moved to the dry and shaded area. Anyone can explain this behaviour?<\/p>\n
![\"Mangrove](\"\/images\/2006\/20061211_4.jpg\")
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