10 Reasons to Love Slugs

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Close-up of a Costasiella kuroshimae nudibranch, also known as a leaf sheep, with bright green, leaflike appendages and a white face with black eyes on a green background.

A colorful Felimare picta nudibranch, also known as the regal sea goddess, with blue, yellow, and purple markings, crawls along the ocean floor among algae.

Close-up of several brown slugs eating another slug on a dirt path with small patches of grass, illustrating cannibalism in nature.

Two great grey slugs (Limax maximus) mating while suspended from a slime thread, with bluish-white colored genitalia visible, against a blurred natural background.

Close-up of a red slug, Arion ater rufus, crawling on a dead brown leaf, showing its textured orange body and tentacles.

A Limax maximus, or leopard slug, with a tan body and dark spots, crawls on a green leaf.

Gem sea slug (Goniobranchus geminus) with blue, yellow, and white bands and dark spots on its mantle, photographed on a rocky underwater surface in Thailand.

Green Elysia marginata sea slug with ruffled edges and yellow trim rests on a red, textured underwater surface.

Elysia cf. marginata sea slug after self-decapitation, showing its separated head and body on a white background. The head and body are greenish with black spots and orange edges.

Sammy the Banana Slug mascot in a black UC Santa Cruz T-shirt poses with arms outstretched on a grassy area with trees in the background.

10 Reasons to Love Slugs: References & Edit History

Article Contributors

Primary Contributors

Estela Morais Westphalen

Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors

Melissa Petruzzello

Article History

Type	Description	Contributor	Date
	New article added.	Melissa Petruzzello Estela Morais Westphalen	Jul 10, 2026