Flamingo Tongue Snail

STATION G: Look at that; it's a small marine snail in the cowry family, called a Flamingo Tongue (Cyphoma gibbosum.)  Part of the cowry's spotted skin wraps over its hard shell, keeping the shell shiny.

As the Flamingo Tongue slides over the Sea Fan, it munches the Fan's polyps for a meal.  But the snail doesn't eat too many polyps; it's in balance with the Fan.

Carly Kauffman

 

Out of the corner of your eye, you see something moving. It's on the seafloor, over toward the right. Swim over to Station H for a closer look.