Purple Storm Snails washing up! The purple storm snails have a scientific name of Janthina janthina and float upside down at the surface of the ocean, feeding on man o wars and blue buttons. These snails have several interesting adaptations for living at the surface of the water, including a raft of bubbles formed by mucus and air. If they lose the bubble raft at any point in their life, they sink to the bottom of the ocean and die. Their shells are light weight to help in keeping them buoyant. Since they float upside down under their bubble raft, the color of their shell is deep purple on the bottom, which faces toward the sky, to help shade the snail from predators above. The top of the snail is a lighter shade of purple, which faces down, to mimic the sky and protect against predators lurking below. If you find a storm snail at the beach and pick it up, it will likely emit a purple ink that is for protection when harassed. And finally, these snails are all born as males, and switch to all female later in life to lay eggs so that the cycle of life can continue at the surface of the sea. Watch this episode of Beachcombing with Jace Tunnell to learn more about these amazing animals.
15 окт 2024
