Description
At most, a full-grown red slug can extend to be approximately 18 cm (7 in) in length; although they usually only grow to be 7–10 cm (2.7–3.9 in) long.
Its genus, Arion, is derived from the name of the legendary Greek poet Arion. Its species name, rufus, is Latin for red. Although very often brick-red or brown in coloration, Arion rufus can also be greenish-brown, black, yellow, or orange.
Perhaps the red slug's most noticeable feature is the placement of its pneumostome just before the midpoint of its mantle. Like all slugs, the red slug moves relatively slowly, using the muscular contractions of the underside of its foot, which is mostly red with stripes.
The red slug, like all other slugs, uses two pairs of tentacles to sense its environment. The darkly-coloured upper pair, called optical tentacles, is used to sense light. The lower pair provide the red slug's sense of smell. Both pairs can retract and extend themselves to avoid hazards, and, if lost to an accident or predation, can be regrown.
Read more about this topic: Red Slug
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“Once a child has demonstrated his capacity for independent functioning in any area, his lapses into dependent behavior, even though temporary, make the mother feel that she is being taken advantage of....What only yesterday was a description of the child’s stage in life has become an indictment, a judgment.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“The great object in life is Sensation—to feel that we exist, even though in pain; it is this “craving void” which drives us to gaming, to battle, to travel, to intemperate but keenly felt pursuits of every description whose principal attraction is the agitation inseparable from their accomplishment.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“God damnit, why must all those journalists be such sticklers for detail? Why, they’d hold you to an accurate description of the first time you ever made love, expecting you to remember the color of the room and the shape of the windows.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)