"Huge Surprise": Worms Hitchhike in Slug Guts
Unable to travel far on their own, some worms catch a ride inside slugs to reach new territory, a new study says.
Just when it seemed that travel couldn't get more uncomfortable than flying coach, scientists have discovered that worms hitch rides inside slugs.
This strategy transports the tiny worms much farther than they would get on their own, giving them access to more food sources, according to a study published July 12 in the journal BMC Ecology.
"These results are a huge surprise for us, because we never expected it to survive inside another organism," says study leader Hinrich Schulenburg, a zoologist at the University of Kiel in Germany.
In the 1960s, scientists discovered C. elegans is perfect for laboratory research. It's tiny—just a millimeter long—and has a short life span, making it ideal to breed in captivity. Since then, researchers have
