Editor:
Some reactions to Anne To’s article on banana slugs (“The Banana Slug Slithers in as California’s Official State Slug,” Nov. 7): First, it falsely indicates that the banana slug is a species. It’s not; it’s really a genus of three to six species, all of which occur in California. The two in Humboldt are the Pacific BS (throughout) and Button’s BS (Southern Humboldt).
Ms. To states that the “species” shares a symbiotic relationship with the Coast Redwood without specifying what that relationship is. First, any relationship between two different organisms is symbiotic, even if one of them is harmed by it. The redwood-slug relationship, though, is mutually beneficial. Slugs eat plants that compete with redwood seedlings for resources, but they don’t eat the redwoods; and they cycle nutrients back into the soil by processing decomposing organic matter. In return, of course, the redwoods provide a perennially moist environment in which the slugs can thrive.
I find the photo in the article to be an interesting choice, since the slug is interacting with a lancetooth snail. As far as we know, lancetooth snails eat only other terrestrial mollusks, including slugs (yes, a symbiotic relationship). Most likely, the snail in the photo is starting to eat the slug.
I am reminded of the first time I encountered a banana slug. I was 6, and my family was in the process of moving from New York to Marin County. My mother, sister and I were viewing, with our realtor, the house in which I wound up spending the rest of my childhood, and we found one in the yard. My recollection is that we were all fascinated rather than repulsed by the creature. Kudos to my mom, a city product if ever there was one, for instilling a love of nature in us.
Finally, as a University of California at Santa Cruz alum, I am compelled to say, “Go Slugs! Go! GO!”
Ken Burton, McKinleyville
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This article appears in Community Connection.