| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Species | Seaslug hydroclast ("sea slug water breaker") |
| Attitude | Passive |
| Type | Mobile (though effectively stationary) |
| Category | Foragers |
| Biome | All |
| Biomod | Water Secretion |
| Nutrition | Food -5 / Health 0 / Water +15 |
| Bioreactor Fuel | 30 mins |
| Scan Requirement | Bioscanner |
"This organism filters brine into drinkable water. This may be an adaptation to the seawater's anomalously high viral load." — PDA upon first collection
The Water Slug is a small, bottom-dwelling lifeform that is incapable of significant movement. It can be used to create drinkable water. It provides -5 Food and +15 Water when consumed. The Digestion adaptation is required to safely consume alien lifeforms. A player without this adaptation will not receive its effect and will lose health.
Appearance
Water Slugs are small creatures with a semi-translucent body. They have a large, long, muscular foot that is purple in color, with cyan specs seen around it. A large translucent bulb sits atop the foot, inside of which they possess a lengthy spiral gut, similar in shape to a coil. Four appendages grow out of the bulb at the back of it, two on each side of the body. Their color fades from cyan to yellow.
The Water Slug possesses a small head present at the front, which is pink in color, featuring a yellow stripe going through the middle of it. Two eye stalks spread out of the sides of the head, with small golden eyes present at the ends of them. The mouth ends with a sharp, wide beak.
Behavior
Water Slugs are completely motionless. They can be found around most of the world in various places, usually hiding in the anemones.
When the player approaches a Water Slug, it retracts and begins to shake until they move away from it. If observed from afar, Water Slugs can be seen doing a variety of idle animations.
Databank Entry
Water Slug (Seaslug hydroclast)
A biological enigma that converts seawater into drinkable fresh water.
- Microbial fuel cell: Removing salt from seawater is energy-intensive. Nonetheless, the water slug does it, perhaps as a byproduct of an internal microbial reactor that feeds on waste in seawater.
- Fresh water reserve: A hydrophobic plastic bulb that protects the slug from rapid dehydration by saltwater.
- Plankton farm: The slug's water bulb hosts a highly productive plankton species, turning light into food. Fresh water may be necessary for the plankton's chemistry, or it may be a prison—a way to keep the plankton from leaving.
- Vampiric aura: The water slug's developed beak has a sharp cutting surface. Possible evolutionary history as a parasite or commensal, tapping a host's blood and filtering out toxins.
Assessment: Only nearby source of drinkable water. Advise fabricator cook before drinking. In case of kidney problems, consider allowing the water slug to feed on your blood.
Source: Scan a Water Slug
Gallery
In Game
Water Slugs in the Shallows grass.
A single Water Slug.
Closeup of a Water Slug.
A Water Slug being held.
Development
 Concept art by Alex Ries.
 A developmental image of an experimentally upsized Water Slug.
Other
One of the three partial Water Slug images that was put into the Time Capsule circulation.
Ditto.
Ditto.
An image featuring the Water Slug created for the 7th birthday of Subnautica.
Trivia
- The Water Slug was the first Subnautica 2 creature to be shown, being partially revealed in three images put into circulation in Subnautica's Time Capsules and subsequently added as a custom emote to the official Discord server.
- The Water Slug cannot be cooked, unlike its counterpart in the first two games, the Bladderfish.
- The Water Slug can be placed on Hardpoints.
- The eyes of the Water Slug were designed after the eyes of a pet snail that the artist Alex Ries had.
