Snails can change their slime to meet the momenttoggle caption Franziska Jehle/Max Planck Institute of Colloids and InterfacesSlime is splattered across the animal kingdom. Tubeworms produce mucus that glows. A tiny mucus factoryThe brown-lipped snail is a many-hued wonder. First, there's a sticky, yet slippery lubricant mucus that the snails use for locomotion, allowing them to adhere to a surface while gliding along with minimal friction. "The more collagen and calcium were present," says Gabler, "the stiffer, more cohesive and sticky mucus became."