If you are squeamish, you may want to skip this post.

As described in the previous post, I somehow ended up with hundreds more Elysia than expected.  All well and good, but even after reducing the numbers by a few hundred, I simply could not raise enough food to keep up with the appetites of all those hungry slugs.  After pulling out the primary growout tank and removing the exhausted algae, I could have a clear view of the population.

A few hundred young slugs from rearing tank. There were not supposed to be so many. 4/29/18.

Oy!  I had already set aside a small number in another tank for physiology experiments and the next generation of parents, so I did not have an immediate use for all of these.  I was faced with a tough choice: cull some of them, or let them all die slowly of starvation.  It gave me some sympathy for Thanos.

I set aside about 30, which seemed sustainable.  The rest were placed first into a net to extract mucus for future use.  After setting aside the mucus, the slugs were then anesthetized and placed into a small (1.5 cup) food processor.

Anesthetized Elysia in 1.5 cup food processor. 4/29/18.

The job was done quickly.  I froze the tissue for future use.

125 ml of slug puree in food processor. 4/29/18.

I don’t feel great about having pureed these guys, but one of the responsibilities of maintaining a captive invertebrate colony is getting the numbers right.

The remaining slugs are feeding and growing vigorously.