This year we have a warm, early spring, many slugs try to kill my corn salad.
So i had to kill some of them for scientific purpose...;-)
Slugs macerate food using their radula.
Objective 40x, DIC, Pentax SLR.
Thanks,
Gerd
Slug Radula
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Slug Radula
This year we have a warm, early spring, many slugs try to kill my corn salad.
So i had to kill some of them for scientific purpose...;-)
Slugs macerate food using their radula.
Objective 40x, DIC, Pentax SLR.
Thanks,
Gerd
How did you go about getting it?
It could be used as emery. 
-
Charles Krebs
- Posts: 5865
- Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:02 pm
- Location: Issaquah, WA USA
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Thank you all for your comments ! Ken, this is the way to isolate the radula :
I found an article by Prof. Richard L. Howey, Wyoming here, he describes it better than i ever could
>>http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/ind ... snail.html
Let me quote the important parts :
"To extract the radula for examination, the first step is to build a miniature guillotine to remove the head. The French have always argued that the guillotine is humane and they eat snails, so they should know!(?) So, collect the right kind of snails, have your mother or wife or chef get spinach and make garlic sauce and then you're in business—you get specimens and haute cuisine all in one day.
After removing the head—and if you're a tad squeamish, it's perfectly all right to use preserved specimens, so long as the preservative is pH neutral—so remove the head and place it in sodium hypochlorite (ordinary household bleach will do—Caution: Caustic!) And after several days and a few changes of bleach, you will discover a slim ribbon, also largely chitinous, with rows of lovely teeth arranged in intricate patterns. When observed under polarized light, the results are spectacular. Try a compensator as well for further dazzlement. Also, if you use preserved specimens, you'd better cancel the order for spinach and garlic sauce."
The only difference in my way is to use potassium hydroxide dilution instead of sodium hypochlorite and no change of this maceration liquid.
Thanks,
Gerd
I found an article by Prof. Richard L. Howey, Wyoming here, he describes it better than i ever could
>>http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/ind ... snail.html
Let me quote the important parts :
"To extract the radula for examination, the first step is to build a miniature guillotine to remove the head. The French have always argued that the guillotine is humane and they eat snails, so they should know!(?) So, collect the right kind of snails, have your mother or wife or chef get spinach and make garlic sauce and then you're in business—you get specimens and haute cuisine all in one day.
After removing the head—and if you're a tad squeamish, it's perfectly all right to use preserved specimens, so long as the preservative is pH neutral—so remove the head and place it in sodium hypochlorite (ordinary household bleach will do—Caution: Caustic!) And after several days and a few changes of bleach, you will discover a slim ribbon, also largely chitinous, with rows of lovely teeth arranged in intricate patterns. When observed under polarized light, the results are spectacular. Try a compensator as well for further dazzlement. Also, if you use preserved specimens, you'd better cancel the order for spinach and garlic sauce."
The only difference in my way is to use potassium hydroxide dilution instead of sodium hypochlorite and no change of this maceration liquid.
Thanks,
Gerd
Well that pretty much answers that Gerd. Thanks