Niven's first story to discuss the Bandersnatchi was World of Ptavvs, published in 1966. That story relates the way that they were named as follows: Frumious bandersnatch are a herd animal. They are completely white, and resemble a very large slug with smooth, slick skin. From the front, a brontosaur-like neck, with no head, extends about as high as the bandersnatch's body. The tip is thick and rounded, entirely featureless, other than two tufts of black bristles (sense organs). The large mouth at the bottom, above the belly foot, is almost invisible when closed. The large mouth is adapted to scooping the Bandersnatchi's food, a form of mutated yeast, out of the shallow ocean-like colonies that the yeast live in.