The Sea Slugs’ Borrowed Defense

Job 12:7a, 8b
“But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee…and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee:”

Of all the creatures which walk, crawl, creep or grow on Earth, which one invented the organ transplant? I’ll give you one hint, it wasn’t the human being.

Actually, several creatures perform organ transplants, and the inventor must be God because mindless natural forces could never have worked out the amazing transplants we see in our world.

Sea slugs feed mainly on sea anemones. Sea anemones have stinging cells which, upon the slightest touch, explode, sending a poisoned dart into the intruder. None of this seems to phase the sea slug, who will tear up the anemone and eat it without exploding even one of the stinging cells. The stinging cells do not even explode in the slug’s stomach, nor amazingly, are they digested.

The sea slug’s stomach has narrow channels which lead from the stomach to small pouches in the fluffy spurs on its sides. These channels have moving hairs which sweep the stinging cells out of the stomach, up the channels and to the pouches where they are arranged and stored so that the sea slug can use them for defense. Should a fish try to nip the sea slug, he would be stung by the very stinging cells which had once protected the anemone.

Science tells us that things must have causes. It is hardly scientific to credit an organ transplant, which is more complex and elegant than anything we could devise, to blind natural principles. The Bible has a better and more logical answer!

Prayer:
Lord, You are the Designer and builder of the creation – even the fish can tell us that. But humans, including me, are the only creatures in the entire creation who can tell others about Your love. Use me Lord! Amen.

Notes:
Photo: The cephalaspidean sea slug Chelidonura varians. Courtesy of Steve Childs. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.