Natures wonders: nematodes ride slugs to next meal (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, August 06, 2015, 19:13 (3395 days ago) @ David Turell

Outside or inside, it is easy transportation across dry areas to next mealsite:-http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/nematodes-use-slugs-like-buses-and-maybe-cruise-ships/?WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20150806-"Few things are less sexy than a slug (unless, that is, you've seen the immortal slug love scene in Life in the Undergrowth). But to a tiny worm called a nematode, slugs may be the ultimate sexy ride: moist, secure, and maybe even pre-loaded with snacks. Why wriggle painstakingly toward your next meal, risking death by dessication and starvation, when you could travel in style in the Ultimate Invertebrate Commuting Machine?-"Animals have long been suspected of providing the necessary transport. Dauer larvae - a special developmental stage of nematodes that has attracted much interest among aging researchers because entering this phase vastly extends worms' lifespans - seem to be specially equipped to ride on animals. They even stand straight up on their tails and wave back and forth in an apparent attempt to thumb a ride. But which animals? No one knew for certain.-"Nematodes are extraordinarily abundant small invertebrate animals that live in soil and water (I wrote about them before here). Many are parasitic, but many like C. elegans are predators or scavengers.-"C. elegans have a particular dilemma because they live in ephemeral environments like rotting fruit, where they feed on the microbes decaying the plant. But when you've finished with your moldy peach, how do you get to the next rotten apple, particularly when it is located a daunting distance away? Without enough food or moisture, C. elegans shrivels up or starves, so hot, dry, food-free environments would seem to present insurmountable barriers to these little worms.-"So the team of scientists tested 373 different invertebrates—isopods, flies, centipedes, spiders, beetles, slugs, locusts, true bugs, and others—for nematodes. Of those groups they examined, only slugs, isopods (also called pill-bugs or roly-polys), and centipedes (also called chilopods) carried nematodes. 
 
"Slugs may be a particularly preferred carrier because, unlike many insects and arthropods, they exude humidity from their slime. Where the slugs carried the nematodes is revealing too. Although some nematodes have been found clinging to slug exteriors, many were found inside slugs - specifically, in the intestines. Significantly more nematodes were found in the intestine of dissected slugs than in any other region."