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Spotted Keelback — Description

So you find yourself trudging through the jungle, perhaps looking for a rare specimen or maybe duped into searching for some "lost temple" or whatnot. It is hard work navigating this labyrinth of trees and fighting your way through the understory. The sheer heat and humidity ain't helping much either! So you stop in a clearing to catch your breath and drink some water, when suddenly rain starts to fall. If this journey couldn't get any worse! Sadly, it isn't even a refreshing rain, cool and clear, but a warm suffocating one. And it seems....a bit sticky too. As you see these thick gooey droplets fall upon your shoulder, you realize it isn't raining anywhere else around you, and this stuff is coming down in awkward globs. You touch this goop with your fingers, as apparently that is the only way to confirm if it is water or something else, and indeed find it to be warm and sticky. At this point you immediately drop everything and make a break for it, knowing full well that something is lurking up above you. No time should be wasted in getting away from that spot, only investigating further when you are somewhere more secure. Well, that is what you would do if you weren't an idiot, but if the stories and pulp novels were directing this scene, you would somehow find no need for haste. You would instead fondle this odd goop in your fingers, and maybe take a whiff because why not. Certainly gathering critical information by doing this! And then once more falls down around you and you finally come to the conclusion it isn't just water (probably because you stuck it in your mouth), you decide to look up. But slowly! Wouldn't want to ruin the tension! Just stand locked in place and very slowly tilt your head upward, just in time to see a massive slug drop down from the branches and ruin your day (and probably life). What a load of rot! Do people seriously read these things? The pulp novels, I mean, not my journal entries. The sheer stupidity that some of those characters display is mind boggling! Why aren't you getting away from the saliva shower? Why do you have to touch blood to determine that it is indeed blood? It's ridiculous! Am I the only one irritated by this kind of writing?! I thought Eucella would find it all dumb too, but whenever I am in her office and talking about it, she always puts her head in her hands and makes a comment about how she has work to do. Really likes avoiding that subject, so she probably secretly likes that stuff. After all, she did write some pretty pulpy mushy stuff back in the day, so that might actually be her bread and butter. Oh, I am rambling again! Right! Back to the entry!

So why did I make this tale about someone getting dropped on by a giant slug? Because this entry is talking about a giant slug! The Spotted Keelback, to be exact! The Spotted Keelback is a species of, well, giant slug (doing great, Chlora), but it would be better to say that they are actually related to Carcolhs! Now do note, I did not say that they are Carcolhs, rather that they are related. As you can probably see, one group has a big ol shell on their back, while the Spotted Keelback very obviously doesn't. It seems they once shared a common ancestor, but eventually split and became the two different groups we see today. The Spotted Keelback does share some similarities in size and general anatomy, especially with that fierce radula of theirs! Developed into a very toothy mandible that can easily shred through skin and flesh. The main difference you can see is that they do not have the oral tendrils that Carcolhs have, rather their snout ends in stubby orifices or nozzles. These are why I talked about the warm sticky saliva up above (is it weird if I keep writing that? Not sure), as from these orifices come large amounts of gooey mucus. This stuff is similar to what coats the Lou Carcolh's oral tendrils, as it is like a fast acting adhesive once it makes contact with a surface. The difference here, though, is that this mucus is capable of forming long strands and webs, with incredible strength that can support the weight of the Spotted Keelback or human sized prey! Of course, it depends on the thickness of this gooey rope, as thin ones do more to entangle than actually lift up its food. This glue slime doesn't just come from their oral tubes, but from their foot and breathing pore too! It should be noted that while this mucus can grip prey and surfaces tightly, the Spotted Keelback can slither through this stuff effortlessly! It wouldn't be effective if they could get caught in their own trap!

From my earlier tale and talk of the glue snot, you can probably already guess how the Spotted Keelback hunts. Their mucus is used to snare and entangle prey, slowing them down or trapping them for the slug to come in and finish them off. They choose to hunt by ambush, typically waiting up in the thick branches above for prey to pass by down below. Their actual techniques in trapping prey can vary, as they have a few tricks. One is to find a clearing and drop thick puddles of this mucus on the ground, perfect for catching the legs of those who step in it. Another is to hang long strands of mucus down from the branches, often coated in leaves and detritus to look like random vines. Those who blunder through them will find these "vines" holding them fast, and their confusion and struggling is often enough to tie them up more and give the Keelback time to slink in. There is also the tactic of waiting in the branches and then shooting out a wide spray of mucus to shower down on prey like a gooey net. All very valid strategies! In most cases, the Spotted Keelback has created itself a long thick strand of mucus that it uses to hang itself from, suspending it in the air right above the target. When victims get tripped up, the Keelback will release its grip on this mucus rope and plunge down onto its meal. Its boneless nature means nothing gets broken from such a fall, but the same typically cannot be said for their prey. The sheer weight of a Keelback dropping on you can knock the wind out of you, break bones and leave you in a very bad situation. Its coating of mucus from its foot will affix them to prey, and their muscly body won't wait to coil around the victim and hold them tight. From there, fangs filled with paralytic venom will be jabbed in to fully stop their food from fighting back. And once they are rendered immobile, the fang-filled radula will be used to shred them into easy to eat chunks.

Since the jungle and rainforests are active places with a lot of hungry mouths, the Spotted Keelback will typically take its kill somewhere else to enjoy. They will coat it in mucus then slither up a tree carrying a long strand still connected to the carcass. Once up in the branches, the food is then pulled up and suspended mid-air. Now the slug can slither down and enjoy its meal in peace, as no large predators or scavengers can reach them in this position, and smaller ones risk getting caught in their glue trap! Kind of a beautiful way to eat, hanging in the air like that! Though elegance is far from the mind once they start digging in, as blood and meaty bits start flying and raining the ground down below. Smaller critters do love that part, darting into this meat shower for free scraps.

The slime strands they create and rappel from play a large part in their lifestyle. Obviously, it is big for hunting, but it is also how they escape predators, hold onto kills they cannot finish in one sitting and also do their whole reproduction thing. Like Carcolhs, Keelbacks are hermaphrodites, so any two of their species will do when it comes to mating! When the breeding season is on, the Keelbacks will lay down pheromone laced trails of slime wherever they go, as others can use it to follow them when they catch the scent. The individual as well will be looking for goo trails to track down mates, following it until they run into the secretor! Once two slugs meet, it is time for mating, which I must say is an incredibly beautiful display! It is truly a show you have to see to believe! Hopefully I am not sounding too weird about this. Actually, am I allowed to go into detail on this subject? Ah whatever, full speed ahead! Eucella will cut it out if she finds it inappropriate, but that is nature! Animals have sex, how do you think we get more animals?! So the two Keelbacks will create a long thick strand of mucus that hangs from high up in the trees. The two shall dangle from this strand and intertwine their bodies. Once they are suspend and wrapped around one another, they will evert their large, long and surprisingly colorful penises to inject the other with sperm. I would include a drawing of that, but I feel like I am already testing my luck with this description (I can already feel Eucella's red inked quill hanging above this whole section)! Like I said though, it is shockingly beautiful, and the end result is hundreds of eggs laid by each slug. These egg clusters are hung from sticky strands where predators cannot reach them. When the young hatch, it is up to them to fend for themselves.

Spotted Keelbacks are opportunistic predators that will happily try to eat anything that enters their trap, so that means humans are on the menu! Dryads are technically in danger too, as they will drop on any moving thing down below but won't know it tastes awful til they have their radula buried in our neck. With this, the species is feared by both locales and outsiders. Some folks call them "Jaguar Slugs" due to their large size, spotted pattern and carnivorous diet. Their glue slime is collected by some to serve as an adhesive, good for fusing two things together or repairing damage to homes, canoes and other things. Their meat is considered to be incredibly tender and delicious, and their hide is worn for ceremonial garbs or just straight up bragging rights. Hunting them typically calls for offering them a sacrifice, driving another animal into their trap so the Keelback descends upon them. Once it is distracted by this bait, the hunters rush in with spears and drive them in deep. Whatever weapons are used for this hunt should be ones you aren't afraid of losing, as when you plunge them in, good luck ever getting them out. One of the dangers of eating Spotted Keelback is finding a spear head or arrow tip in the middle of your meal. Some say finding one that was lost in a failed hunt is a sign of bad luck, which I find to be an understatement when you suddenly find yourself chewing on a spearhead.

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

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What else we need for Halloween? Snails and Slugs! Or more so just slugs!