Size-dependent responses to dehydration in the terrestrial slug,Limax maximus L.: Locomotor activity and huddling behavior

✍ Scribed by Welsford, Ian G. ;Banta, Pamela A. ;Prior, David J.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 578 KB
• Volume: 253
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-104X
• DOI: 10.1002/jez.1402530214

✦ Synopsis

When specimens of Limax maximus L. are dehydrated alone or in groups of three or five, they exhibit an increase in locomotor activity but no increase in huddling behavior (i.e., the formation of aggregations of several slugs) when compared with hydrated animals. The extent of the dehydration-induced increase in locomotion is a function of body size, with small and mediumsized animals (0.3-2.9 g) exhibiting significantly more activity than large animals (3.5-6.0 g). The dehydration-induced behavioral responses of small slugs are affected by altering the rate of dehydration. Therefore, the variation in behavioral responses between L. maximus of different sizes may be due to the different rates of dehydration that they experience.