The distraught slug would be squirting our bright purple ink everywhere as well. (It's not light fast, though I keep thinking I should see if I can find a mordant. But then I don't want to torture slugs for their ink.)
No, I don't - though considering the color and the molluscan origin, it's hard not to speculate if it might be something similar to Tyrian purple or Tekhelet... but it's probably much closer to cephlapod ink. (Which seems to be borne out here.)
Hm. Some folks seem to claim it's phycoerythrobilin, derived from their red algal diet, but several claims they make are contradicted by other papers and my own experience. (That all being said, they may well be right about the pigment.)
I mean, technically there might be a way to anesthetize the animal, and then inject an acetylcholine agonist in or around it's ink gland, but... ugh. That seems almost more mean than poking it with some sharp until it inks.
(My animals rarely ink, because I usually anesthetize them before they figure out they're being poked - slugs aren't super swift. But things happen, and they happen more with newer students. And slugs that aren't healthy are likely to ink just because. In fact "curl up and ink" is pretty common slang around the lab. Like "I was intending to work from home, but when it came down to it, I just felt like curling up and inking, so I napped all day." There have been a few really nasty viruses going around...)
Now you just need a slingshot, and you could make someone's day just TERRIBLE.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
D'you know what compounds are responsible for the color of the ink?
Reply
Hm. Some folks seem to claim it's phycoerythrobilin, derived from their red algal diet, but several claims they make are contradicted by other papers and my own experience. (That all being said, they may well be right about the pigment.)
Reply
( ... )
Reply
Reply
Reply
I mean, technically there might be a way to anesthetize the animal, and then inject an acetylcholine agonist in or around it's ink gland, but... ugh. That seems almost more mean than poking it with some sharp until it inks.
(My animals rarely ink, because I usually anesthetize them before they figure out they're being poked - slugs aren't super swift. But things happen, and they happen more with newer students. And slugs that aren't healthy are likely to ink just because. In fact "curl up and ink" is pretty common slang around the lab. Like "I was intending to work from home, but when it came down to it, I just felt like curling up and inking, so I napped all day." There have been a few really nasty viruses going around...)
Reply
Leave a comment