Friday, February 22, 2013

A favorite snail

This snail is called a flamingo tongue.  It is small (about an inch), but lovely to look at. The shell is a solid color, off white.  The beautiful design of orange spots, with black outlines is not part of the shell.  Rather it is part of the mantle, the snail's outer tissues that secrete the shell.  The camouflaged mantle is extended over the shell.


The foot of the shell (the part that extends out the shell, and drags the snail arround) is colored similarly to the mantle, and can be seen in the bottom 2 photos. This flamingo tongue was about 25 feet deep.



Bonaire has actual flamingos as well, but I don't believe that their tongues look anything like this shell.

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