Mollusks

The Wavy Clio and Its Friends

The Wavy Clio, Clio recurva (Children, 1823) is a pelagic (living in open-water) gastropod mollusk that inhabits all of the world’s oceans, at moderate depth. The adult shell measures about 20 mm (0.8 inch) and is triangular, resembling a partially flattened ice cream cone. The Wavy Clio belongs in the group of pteropod gastropods, which also includes the sea butterflies in the genus Limacina, the “canaries in the coal mine” of ocean acidification. The photo, taken by Smithsonian’s photographer

Shell of the Week: The Ivory Eulima

Melanella eburnea (Mühlfeld, 1824), is a member of the family Eulimidae, marine snails that parasitize echinoderms such as sea stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and others. The Ivory Eulima has the typical smooth, featureless shell that is typical of members of the family. Depending on the species, they may be endoparasites (living inside the tissues of the host) or ectoparasites (living on the surface of the host’s body). Other local eulimid snails previously treated in this column are the Two-

Shell of the Week: The Girdled Triton

Linatella caudata (Gmelin, 1791) reaches 70 mm (about 2.75 inches), and has a shell sculptured with rounded spiral cords, sometimes with small knobs on the periphery (the angled part) of the last whorl. The color is light-brown, sometimes with broad spiral bands of lighter color. Tritons have extremely long pelagic (open-water) larval stages. These can be transported by ocean currents into areas farther away from where the mother tritons deposited their eggs. Girdled Tritons are not common in So

Shell of the Week: The Eastern Melampus

Melampus bidentatus Say, 1822 reaches 13 mm (about 0.5 inch), and has a solid, relatively thick shell with a smooth exterior. The visible internal shell surface (inside of the shell opening) shows a pattern of many tooth-like projections. The shell color consists of alternating bands of off-white and brown. Members of the melampus family Ellobiidae inhabit mangrove areas in quiet bays with sandy-mud bottoms, where they are found in the region immediately above the high tide line. They are adapte

Shell of the Week: The Ragged Sea Hare

Bursatella leachii pleii (Rang, 1828) reaches 80 mm (3.15 inches) in parts of its geographic range in the western Atlantic. The vernacular (common) name derives from the presence of characteristic branched papillae, which impart a “disheveled” aspect to the slug. The species lacks the parapodia (wing-like expansions) that are typical of the larger sea hares in the genus Aplysia. It also completely lacks a shell in the adult stage (a shell is present in the larva and juveniles). Given the proper

Busy, Busy, Bruised Nassa

With a shell reaching only 15 mm (about 0.6 inch), the Bruised Nassa, Phrontis vibex (Say, 1822), is one of most abundant snails in the back bays and sand and mud flats of Southwest Florida. Its shell has a sculpture of 7–12 axial ribs crossed by fine spiral lines of variable size. When it comes to color pattern, the Bruised Nassa is a very variable species, with assorted alternatives around the theme of specks and spots on a lighter background.The image above shows a live Bruised Nassa gliding

Shell of the Week: The Inconspicuous Side-gill Slug

The sea slug Pleurobranchaea inconspicua Bergh, 1897 measures up to 60 mm (about 2.4 inches). It typically has the foot with a wide frontal part (the veil) and covered with small papillae (projections). The gills, visible in the photo, are partially covered by the mantle, and the mantle forms a small siphon in the rear part of the animal. The photo was taken by Barry McBroom at Blind Pass, Sanibel, in January 2018.#inconspicuoussidegillslug #pleurobranchaeainconspicua #sanibel #blindpass

Shell of the Week: The Brazilian Spurilla

Spurilla braziliana MacFarland, 1909, is a relatively large, shell-less sea slug that reaches about 80 mm (about 3 inches). The curly projections on the “back” of the slug are known as cerata; each ceratum includes an extension of the animal’s digestive gland. The Brazilian Spurilla feeds on sea-anemones, and may assimilate cnidocytes (stinging cells) the from sea-anemones it feeds into its own body to use as a defensive mechanism. Its color is variable, covering light-pink, orange, green, light

Fighting-Conch Sushi?

Northern Racoons, Procyon lotor (Linnaeus, 1758), eat mollusks and other types of shellfish. (The "other" racoon species, Procyon cancrivorus (Cuvier, 1798), found in Central and South America, is named after similar, crab-eating habits.) The young racoon in this cool photo was caught red-handed, half-way through a meal of Florida Fighting Conch, Strombus alatus (Gmelin, 1791). The image is by National Shell Museum collaborator Amy Tripp, who captured the moment at low tide on Kice Island, Flor

Pink Slugs and the Bushfire

A few years ago, I wrote a brief piece in this column about the discovery of the Mount Kaputar Pink Slug, a species in the genus Triboniophorus, family Athoracophoridae. Following the recent bushfires in southeastern Australia, the giant (20 cm, about 8 inches), shocking-pink creature is back in the news. The species is part of a small group of land mollusks that are endemic to area of Mount Kaputar National Park. Endemics are species exclusive to a restricted geographic area. The Pink Slug appa