A fascinating article in Livescience reveals the answer to a
century-old zoological mystery: what do y-larvae grow up to
become? Discovered in 1899, y-larvae are clearly young
crustaceans but their adult stage could not be determined. While
this in itself was perplexing, the newly discovered answer is
even more startling: y-larvae metamorphosize into “simple,
pulsing, slug-like masses of cells… far simpler than their
larval stage.” In a sense, the creatures revert backwards to
forms more commonly seen further down the evolutionary ladder as
they mature. Watch the process This awesome video shows the
transformation from promising young crustacean to parasitic
adult slug monster. Would make a great anti-drug commercial. As
Y-larvae do not seem to be in any rush to grow into their adult
form naturally (and who can blame them) the researchers used
powerful hormones to induce rapid growth. The scientists
theorized that adult y-larvae, or ypsigons (rolls right off the
tongue…), are parasitic as they have no digesti