[5] Banana slugs (like other gastropods and many other mollusks) have a radula, a ribbon-like anatomical structure covered in rows of microscopic teeth.

[10] Banana slugs have a single pallial lung which opens externally via a pneumostome on the right side of the mantle of the animal.

Dehydration is a major problem for the mollusk; to combat this, banana slugs excrete a thick coating of mucus around their bodies and can also aestivate.

The Palomar Mountains have lush Sierra Nevada-like coniferous forests and black oak woodlands unlike the surrounding semiarid lands of inland San Diego County and mark the southernmost population of banana slugs.

Small, isolated populations also occur east of the Pacific Coast such as in the inland coniferous rainforests of British Columbia's Columbia Mountains (interior wet-belt), just west of the Canadian Rockies, and have been seen at lower elevations near creeks and damp areas of Mount Revelstoke National Park.

Small populations of banana slugs have also been seen along creek and damp areas of the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains to the north of Yosemite National Park in California.

[19] Additionally, by consuming dead organic matter, they contribute to decomposition and the nutrient cycles[20] and are an important aspect of the ecosystem.

[25] Upon contact with environmental moisture, dry mucin granules swell dramatically, expanding to hundreds of times their original volume.

Moreover, the slime serves the purpose of maintaining moisture on the skin of these slug-like creatures, akin to fruit, which facilitates gas exchange to support respiration.

Its molecular dispersion prevents it from being a true liquid, yet it lacks the compactness of a solid, displaying an organized, crystal-like pattern.

[12] The slime's vivid yellow color, which is responsible for their common name, not only adds to their eccentric appearance but also acts as a warning signal to potential predators that it may not be a tasty meal.

[30] During the mating ritual between two slugs, they both engage in a dance-like action where they will circle each other, occasionally lunging, nipping, and tail whipping.

[citation needed] Banana slugs have been used as food by Yurok Natives of the North Coast and by German immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

A yearly festival and contest is held at Russian River including slug races and a contest for recipes – though, even when fed corn meal to purge them or soaked in vinegar to remove slime, the slugs' flavor is not always well regarded for the modern palate, and the most successful entries are often those in which the flavor is unnoticeable.

It is common in local forests, was approved by a student vote,[citation needed] and was named the best college mascot by Reader's Digest in 2004.