The parasite that turns a snail into a zombie with pulsating eyes
This snail has been hijacked by a parasite that puppets its body and makes its eyes pulse.
Which one is REALLY true about the Amber Snail?
The short version
The flatworm Leucochloridium invades an amber snail, grows into brightly striped pulsating sacs inside its eyestalks that mimic wriggling caterpillars, and rewires the snail to crawl into the open so a bird will eat it and spread the parasite.
Why it's so weird
- ✓The Amber Snail gets hijacked by a flatworm called Leucochloridium after swallowing the parasite's eggs.
- ✓The Amber Snail ends up with pulsating, brightly striped sacs of parasite larvae crawling up inside its eyestalks.
- ✓The Amber Snail has eyestalks that throb and flash green and yellow, looking exactly like a fat wriggling caterpillar.
- ✓The Amber Snail gets its behaviour rewired by the parasite, which drives it out of the shadows onto bright open leaves.
- ✓The Amber Snail is eaten by a bird that mistakes those pulsing eyestalks for a juicy grub, letting the parasite reproduce inside.
You could line up about 61 of them along a 7-year-old!
The full story
This snail has been hijacked by a parasite that is puppeting its body. Meet the amber snail, infected by a flatworm called Leucochloridium. The snail eats the parasite's eggs, and the larvae grow into pulsating, brightly striped sacs that crawl up into the snail's eyestalks. There they throb and flash green and yellow, looking exactly like a fat, wriggling caterpillar. The parasite also rewires the snail's behavior, driving it out of the shadows and into bright open leaves where it is easy to see. A bird spots the pulsing eyestalks, mistakes them for a juicy grub, and eats them. Inside the bird, the parasite finally reproduces, and its eggs fall back to the ground, waiting for the next snail. Follow for more weird animal facts.
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“The Amber Snail gets hijacked by a flatworm called Leucochloridium after swallowing the parasite's eggs.”
“The Amber Snail fishes with a glowing lure that grows right out of its own forehead.”
“The Amber Snail ends up with pulsating, brightly striped sacs of parasite larvae crawling up inside its eyestalks.”