Quick update from yesterday, I still feel quite bit shit but I think the worse it's over. Spent most of the day in bed, browsing YouTube and reddit, falling on and off sleep... Or chasing my 2 year old. Yeah, he doesn't care 😂

I still have some comments from yesterday to respond, not pretending to be a diva fellas , just too tired. Will come back to them tomorrow!

Anyways, check this disgustingly amazing creature

source

Scientifically described as Aplysia vaccaria this species holds the record did world`s largest slug in existence. And surprise surprise, it's commonly known as the black sea slug. Other common names are black sea hare and California black sea hare.

Just look how gross and big they are 😂😂

Well this video answers my question whether they are toxic or not. At least to the touch, they seem safe to pet... So safe to bang I guess too !

Wikipedia agrees too

Aplysia vaccaria can be safely handled by humans

Now don't ask me about eating one. They probably taste like shit. But if you still care, the do seem to produce a toxin that is highly toxic to fish:

To discourage predation by fish, brown algae produce the toxin acetoxycrenulide. During digestion, A. vaccaria extracts this compound and allows it to accumulate in its tissue. Because acetoxycrenulide is highly toxic to fish, its presence in this slug is sufficient to discourage predation

In case you wonder where you can find one then the answer is thr northeast Pacific Ocean off California, United States and Baja California, Mexico, including the Gulf of California.

Here's a map from inaturalist

So tldr. Cool real life level 1 monster 😂

As always, Wikipedia is great resource is you want to learn more about this fun creature:

• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aplysia_vaccaria

And here's a final video from one of my favorite YouTubers where he gets to play with one ❤️

Posted with STEMGeeks