'BRAINLESS AND FOOT-IN-MOUTH'

Which brainless animal, smaller than a pinhead, extends its undercarriage for a successful landing?

The oyster may have a heart, a stomach, a mouth, 2 kidneys, and 2 rows of tentacles but it has no eyes - not even a brain!

In this part of the world, oysters spawn with king tides at Easter and Christmas, producing larvae called ‘spat’. After 24 hours a bi-valve shell has started to develop so the larva is now called a ‘veliger’, swimming around using tiny hair-like cilia on its gills for propulsion, in its search for a suitable site to settle. The veliger ‘lowers its undercarriage’ by forming a muscular foot that extends from between the valves for testing the different surfaces available. After locating the landing ground, the ‘pediveliger’ (veliger with a foot) now produces a cement for adhering to the chosen site.
How clever is that?! There’s no brain to select ‘undercarriage down’- in fact, the oyster’s whole program has been wired in by the Designer and triggered by the proximity of the new moon and the sun. Clever huh?!
At least that’s one time when a no brainer like putting your foot in your mouth pays off!

Acknowledgements: Glen Dodds, oystergrower, Port Macquarie, NSW

BRAINLESS - WITH FOOT IN MOUTH!