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The hot pink Australian slug Triboniophorus aff. graeffei (Photo by Michael Murphy/NPWS)
Two of the main subjects of this blog are mollusks and colors. One might reasonably believe that the two topics intersect most vividly in the form of nudibranch mollusks—the insanely colorful sea slugs which enliven even the coral reef with garish beauty. However in 2013 scientists discovered a brilliantly colored slug on land. Triboniophorus aff. graeffei was discovered on Mount Kaputar (which is part of the Nandewar range of Australia. The slug is brilliant fluorescent pink and grows to 20 centimeters (8 inches) in length.
The hot pink Australian slug Triboniophorus aff. graeffei (Photo by Michael Murphy/NPWS)
Australia is famous for being arid—and dryness mixes poorly with slugs (in fact most mollusks prefer to be moist). Mount Nandewar however is an exception to the general climate of the island continent. A long-ago volcanic eruption sealed off a tiny corner of lush rainforest from the desertification which affected the rest of Australia. The hot pink slugs and their rainforest are in a little time capsule left from the great lush forests of Gondwana. It has been speculated that the bright pink coloration helps the slugs blend in with bright red tropical eucalyptus trees of Mount Nandewar—yet, since the slugs are not always on or near such trees their brilliant 1980s color scheme remains a mystery.
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