After removing its own head, this sea slug grows a new body

KOMPAS.com- Some animals have the ability to regenerate parts of their own bodies, such as arms, legs, or tails that are lost and are able to grow back. However, sea ​​snail from the group sacoglossans It has the unique ability to chop off head alone.

However, the case that happened to the sea snail is something special. This is because the sea slug can regenerate its entire body which has been separated from its head.

“We believe that this is the most extreme form of autonomy and regeneration in nature, “said Sayaka Mitoh, lead author and doctoral student at Nara Women’s University at Japan, as quoted from Live Science, Wednesday (10/3/2021).

Mitoh first discovered this strange behavior accidentally in the Yusa Lab tank at Nara Women’s University in 2018.

He saw the head of a sea snail sacoglossans (Elysia cf. marginata) the detachment is circling his body.

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“One day I found an individual Elysia cf. marginata with the head and body separate. I thought the poor snail was going to die soon, “said Mitoh.

But instead of dying, the wound on the back of the snail’s head quickly healed and was replaced by a completely new body.

“After a few days, the head started to regenerate the body and I could see the heartbeat. It’s amazing,” he said.

After about three weeks, the snail has completed its body regeneration process and replaced 80 percent of its body that had been lost, including all the vital organs it previously had.

Body The new snail is a perfect replica of the original, which the researchers think is pretty good.

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Survival without a head

Interestingly, even though it was detached, the separated head was still able to survive independently for weeks.

Likewise his body, can still live for days or even months without his head.

“The real body is constantly moving and living for days to months. You can see the heart beating. But the headless body seems unable to grow a new head on its own,” explains Mitoh.

However, researchers still don’t know exactly how snails can regenerate their entire body. Researchers suspect stem cells play an important role.

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“We think that some multipotent stem cells may be involved in the regeneration process. In the future we hope to further explore the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon at the tissue and cellular level,” added Mitoh.

Researchers are also not sure why the sea snail removed its head from its body and regrowed its body.

A leading theory is that the snails did it to get rid of internal parasites that had infected their old bodies.

However, it may also be just a way to survive predatory attacks by sacrificing their bodies and escaping as autonomous heads, but it could have been triggered by others.

In this study, researchers also found that only younger snails were able to do so autotomi or shedding body parts and regenerating.

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“We think the very old get very little benefit from regeneration, because they may not be able to reproduce,” said Mitoh.

Researchers also found that sea slugs are able to regenerate twice. Even so, researchers suspect that this ability has its limits.

After passing through a certain stage in its life the snail will lose its abilities completely.

To carry out the regeneration process on their own, sea snails need a lot of energy so it is a challenge for the animal.

It’s just that, snails also have another mainstay of weapons, namely the ability to perform kleptoplasm or the ability to steal chloroplasts from the algae they consume.

Chloroplasts are the parts of cells that allow plants to convert sunlight into energy through photosynthesis.

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With this ability, it allows the snails to photosynthesize and provides them with enough energy for the regeneration process.

“They rely on photosynthesis after autotomy and when food is scarce. But the chloroplasts that are taken only last a few days so they may need to eat to complete regeneration,” explains Mitoh.

In the future, Mitoh and his colleagues will look for other sacoglossan species that can regenerate in this way.

“We discovered another ability of the snail and we are very interested in this small animal,” said Mitoh.

The study of the unique abilities of these sea slugs was published online March 8 in the journal Current Biology.

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