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Sea slugs discovered working together to hunt in packs

Hunting in packs seems like a complex social behaviour, but it isn't limited to large carnivores like wolves. A simple sea slug species teams up to swarm its venomous anemone prey as a group

By Jake Buehler

17 July 2024

Sea slugs attack their brown anemone prey together

Kate Otter

A slow slaughter beneath the waves is surprisingly social: one species of sea slug attacks its anemone prey in teams. The finding highlights how predatory collaboration isn’t limited to more complex carnivores like wolves and lions.

“[The study is] a nice demonstration that the same forms of cooperative behaviour have evolved as a way of solving the challenges of life in vastly different organisms and ecological circumstances,” says Michael Cant at the University of Exeter, UK, who wasn’t involved with the research.

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