Mucus May Help to Exhibit Vivid Body Colors in Sea Slugs

“Optical Properties of Body Mucus Secreted from the Coral Reef Sea Slugs: Measurement of Refractive Indices and Relative Absorption Spectra”
We measured the refractive indices and absorption spectra of mucus from 32 species of sea slugs in Okinawan coral reefs. The refractive indices were similar to or slightly greater than the refractive index of seawater, indicating that the mucus layer reduces light reflection on the bodies and helps exhibit vivid body colors of the slugs. Mucus is almost transparent in the range of visual light and does not interfere with body color. Mucus has some light absorption in the range of UV light in some species, suggesting that mucus protects animals from UV light in these species.

Read the full article, published by Zoological Studies, here

Follow Zoological Studies on Twitter @ZooStudies and Facebook