Translate

Showing posts with label Sea shells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sea shells. Show all posts

Monday 8 August 2016

Hyaline Scallop - Flexopecten hyalinus (Poli, 1795) - Cyprus

Family Pectinidae
Flexopecten hyalinus, the Hyaline Scallop, is a species of saltwater clams, a scallop, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Pectinidae, the scallops.
The shell of an adult Flexopecten hyalinus can be as large as 20–30 millimetres (0.79–1.18 in). This shell is delicate, with a brown or pale brown surface, almost translucent and has quite flat ribs.
This species can be found in the Mediterranean Sea, from Italy and Croatia to Greece, under rocks or dead leaves of algue, usually at depths of about 10 m.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Protaras-25mts deep 7/8/2016 Photos by Costas Constantinou



Friday 1 July 2016

Bittersweet clams - Glycymeris glycymeris (Linnaeus, 1758) - Cyprus

Family Glycymerididae

Glycymeris, common name the bittersweet clams, is a genus of saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Glycymerididae.

The genus name comes from the Ancient Greek word glykymaris (perhaps from Glykys (sweet) and Meris (part)), a word which is only recorded once in Greek literature.

These clams are very common in the fossil state, from Cretaceous period in the Valanginian age (from 112.6 to o 0.012 million years ago). Fossil shells of these molluscs can be found all over the world. Genus Glycymeris includes about 100 extinct species

The shells ares generally biconvex, with equal valves round in outline, and slightly longer than wide. Their size varies from medium to large. The external ligament lacks transverse striations. These clams are a facultatively mobile infaunal suspension feeders.

They are widespread on shallow seabeds that consist of heterogeneous-grained sediments.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Underwater photos Protaras by Costas Constantinou


Monday 27 June 2016

Gulf pearl oyster, Atlantic pearl-oyster - Pinctada radiata (Leach, 1814) - Cyprus

Family: Pteriidae

Pinctada radiata, commonly known as the Atlantic pearl-oyster or the Gulf pearl oyster is a species of pearl oyster distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific. Its range extends as far north as Japan and as far south as the Australian state of Victoria

P. radiata is generally between 50 and 65 millimetres (2.0 and 2.6 in) in length, though it can reach 106 millimetres (4.2 in). The shell is, thin, compressed, and square-like, with growth rings and ribs on the top surface. Its colouration varies, though it usually displays a brown or red exterior with a pearly interior and a light brown edge. More rarely, the shell may display a green or bronze exterior. Darker brown or red rays may mark the shell, creating darker areas at the margin. The shell's shape and structure also show much variation, hence its many synonyms; it has been described as "very similar to Pinctada margaritifera", and has been misidentified on occasion as P. margaritifera. P. radiata is hermaphroditic, with reproductive maturity being influenced by temperature

Pinctada radiata occurs throughout the Indo-Pacific and Mediterranean Sea at all depths, though it is generally found between 5 and 25 metres (16 and 82 ft). It attaches itself to various hard substrata, including rocks and wrecks. P. radiata is common throughout its range, possibly because of its adaptation to subtropical environments and ability to survive in polluted water. It was originally distributed only in the Indo-Pacific, but has been introduced into the Mediterranean unintentionally through the Suez Canal and intentionally for aquaculture

Pinctada radiata is harvested for pearls, especially in Qatari waters, where it may constitute up to 95% of the oyster catch.. It is also caught for its edible flesh and lustrous shell. P. radiata has also been investigated for possible use as a bioindicator of heavy metals in Persian Gulf waters.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Underwater photos by Costas Constantinou



Friday 17 June 2016

Smooth gooseneck barnacle , Pelagic gooseneck barnacle - Lepas anatifera Linnaeus, 1758 - Cyprus

Family Lepadidae

Lepas anatifera, commonly known as the pelagic gooseneck barnacle or smooth gooseneck barnacle, is a species of barnacle in the family Lepadidae. These barnacles are found, often in large numbers, attached by their flexible stalks to floating timber, the hulls of ships, piers, pilings, seaweed and various sorts of flotsam

The body or capitulum of Lepas anatifera is supported by a long, flexible stalk or peduncle. There are five smooth, translucent plates, edged with scarlet and separated by narrow gaps. The plates have growth lines parallel with their margins and a few faint radial sculpture lines. Inside the capitulum, the barnacle has a head and thorax and vestigial abdomen. A number of brown, filamentous cirri or feeding tentacles project from between the plates. The peduncle is tough and a purplish-brown colour. The capitulum can grow to a length of 5 centimetres (2.0 in) and the peduncle varies between 4 centimetres (1.6 in) and 80 centimetres (31 in)

Lepas anatifera has a cosmopolitan distribution and is found in tropical and subtropical seas worldwide. Because it is often attached to objects carried into colder seas by currents, such as the North Atlantic Drift, it is often found well away from its place of origin and in waters too cold for it to reproduce. In this way it has been recorded from Norway, the Shetland Islands, the Faeroe Islands, Iceland and Spitsbergen

Lepas anatifera is a hermaphrodite and starts to breed when it is about 2.5 centimetres (1 in) long. Fertilisation is internal and the eggs are brooded inside the mantle for a week before emerging as free swimming nauplius larvae. After further development, drifting as part of the plankton, these settle onto floating objects.

Lepas anatifera has long been known to grow on sea turtles, but in 2008, some small specimens were found attached to an American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) on the Pacific coast of Mexico. This crocodile species mostly inhabits mangrove swamps and river estuaries but it is salt tolerant, and is sometimes found in marine environments. In this instance, the size of the goose-neck barnacles indicated that the crocodile must have been in the sea for at least a week. This is the first time that Lepas anatifera has been recorded as an epibiont of a crocodilian

In 13th-century England the word "barnacle" was used for a species of waterfowl, the barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis). This bird breeds in the Arctic but winters in the British Isles so its nests and eggs were never seen by the British. It was thought at the time that the gooseneck barnacles that wash up occasionally on the shore had spontaneously generated from the rotting wood to which they were attached, and that the geese might be generated similarly. Credence to the idea was provided by the tuft of brown cirri that protruded from the capitulum of the crustaceans which resembled the down of an unhatched gosling. Popular belief linked the two species and a writer in 1678 wrote "multitudes of little Shells; having within them little Birds perfectly shap'd, supposed to be Barnacles [by which he meant barnacle geese].
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Underwater photos Protaras by Costas Constantinou



Sunday 15 May 2016

Lagoon cockle - Cerastoderma glaucum (Bruguière, 1789) - Cyprus

Family Cardiidae
Σε λίμνες με υφάλμυρα νερά στο κατεχόμενο χωριό Συριανοχώρι
Synonyms
Cardium glaucum Poiret, 1789
Cerastoderma lamarcki (Reeve, 1845)

Cerastoderma glaucum, commonly known as the lagoon cockle, is a species of saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Cardiidae, the cockles.

This species is found along the coasts of Europe and North Africa, including the Mediterranean and Black Seas and the Caspian Lake, and the low-salinity Baltic Sea. It is a euryhaline species living in salinities 4-100 ‰. In north-west Europe (including the British Isles), it typically does not live on open shores but rather in shallow burrows in saline lagoons, or sometimes on lower shores in estuaries. It cannot tolerate significant exposure to the air. The form found in lagoons is thinner-shelled than the estuarine populations.

The lagoon cockle can grow to the length of 50 mm. In north-west Europe, it spawns in May-July, and the planktonic larval phase takes 11-30 days. The life span of the settled cockle is typically 2-5 years.

The species was described as Cardium glaucum in 1789 almost simultaneously both by Bruguière and by Poiret.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photos Sirgianochori 13/5/2016 by George Konstantinou




















Friday 11 December 2015

Date shell or Date mussel - Lithophaga lithophaga (Linnaeus, 1758) - Λιθοδόμος - Cyprus

Family: Mytilidae
Lithophaga lithophaga
, also known as date shell or date mussel, is a species of Bivalvia. They can be found in northeast Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. They are found on the Adriatic coast of Croatia and Montenegro under the name prstaci. They bore into marine rocks, producing a boring called Gastrochaenolites.
Several governments have restricted the collection of these shells or even made it wholly illegal, in order to protect the rocks on which they are found. The extraction of the shells from the rocks leads to desertification of the coast. These countries include Croatia, Italy,Slovenia, France, Greece, Montenegro, and others, including participants in the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). As of 2004, its population distributed over the Turkish coastline is not considered to be under threat.
Historically these shells are considered a delicacy, cooked and served in a broth of white wine, garlic and parsley.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ο λιθοδόμος (λέγεται και λιθοφάγος) (Lithodomus lithofagus) είναι δίθυρο μαλάκιο της τάξης των Δυσοδόντων, πολύ διαδεδομένο στις ελληνικές παραλίες. Είναι εδώδιμο όπως τα μύδια. Η εμφάνισή του στη Γη υπολογίζεται στα 350.000.000 χρόνια πριν, δηλαδή κατά τη Λιθανθρακοφόρο Περίοδο. Σήμερα ζει σε όλες τις εύκρατες και ζεστές θάλασσες.
Ο λιθοδόμος ανήκει στην ίδια οικογένεια (Μυτιλίδες) με τα μύδια. Επίσης, στα πρώτα χρόνια της ζωής τους, ζουν όπως οι συγγενείς τους, προσκολλημένοι στα βράχια. Έπειτα όμως σκάβουν τρύπες σε σχήμα κυλίνδρου στο εσωτερικό της πέτρας. Σε πολλά μέρη του κόσμου μπορεί κανείς να συναντήσει τέτοιες τρύπες και αυτό αποδεικνύει ότι στο μέρος εκείνο κάποτε υπήρχε βυθός θάλασσας.
Υπάρχουν αρκετά είδη λιθοδόμων. Το πιο κοινό από αυτά είναι ο λιθοδόμος ο λιθοφάγος (Lithodomus lithofagus), ο οποίος περικλείεται σε δύο ίδια όστρακα μεγάλου μήκους. Πολλές φορές ονομάζεται και «χουρμάς της θάλασσας», επειδή τα όστρακα στα οποία κλείνεται έχουν το χρώμα του χουρμά.
Από τη Βικιπαίδεια, την ελεύθερη εγκυκλοπαίδεια
Underwater photo Protaras  by Costas Constantinou

Thursday 10 December 2015

Reflexed jewel box - Chama pacifica (Broderip, 1835) - Cyprus

Family Chamidae

Chama is a genus of cemented saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Chamidae, the jewel boxes.

Underwater photo  Ayia Napa, 07.06.2015  by Costas Constantinou



Spondylus gaederopus Linnaeus, 1758 - Γαϊδουροπόδαρο - Σπόνδυλος - Cyprus

Spondylus gaederopus is a species of marine bivalve mollusc, a thorny oyster in the family Spondylidae. This species is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. S. gaederopus has low fecundity as they lay up to 404 858 ± 248 014 female eggs per season starting at the age of 3. Additionally, they live to be up to 18 years old.
 Family Spondylidae

Description
Spondylus gaederopus attaches itself to the substrate with its lower valve, which is usually white, while the upper valve is usually purple. Specimens that are all white, or all purple do, however, exist.
Uses
The mollusc is edible, and is consumed in Sardinia.
Spondylus is a genus of bivalve molluscs, the only genus in the family Spondylidae. As well as being the systematic or scientific name,Spondylus is also the most often used common name for these animals, though they are also known as thorny oystersspiny oysters, and as spondylids. The meat of these bivalves is edible.
The many species of Spondylus vary considerably in appearance and range. They are grouped in the same superfamily as the scallops. They are not closely related to true oysters (family Ostreidae), however they do cement themselves to rocks, rather than attach themselves by a byssus. Their key characteristic is the two parts of their shells are hinged together with a ball-and-socket type of hinge, rather than a toothed hinge as is more common in other bivalves. They also still retain vestigial anterior and posterior auricles ("ears", triangular shell flaps) along the hinge line.
Liks scallops, Spondylus spp. have multiple eyes around the edges of their shells, and have relatively well-developed nervous systems. Their nervous ganglia are concentrated in the visceral region, with recognisable optic lobes connected to the eyes.
Spondylus shells are much sought after by collectors, and a lively commercial market exists in them.
The genus Spondylus originated in the Mesozoic era and can be found in fossil forms in Cretaceous rocks in the Fort Worth Formation of Texas and in the Trent River Formation of Vancouver, as well as other parts of North America.
Archaeological evidence shows people in Neolithic Europe were trading the shells of S. gaederopus to make bangles and other ornaments through much of the neolithic. The main use period appears to have been from around 5350 BC to 4200BC] The shells were harvested from the Aegean Sea, but were transported far into the centre of the continent. In the LBK and Lengyel cultures, Spondylus shells from the Aegean Sea were worked into bracelets and belt buckles. Over time styles changed with the middle neolithic favouring generally larger barrel-shaped beads and the late neolithic smaller flatter and disk shaped beads  Significant finds of jewellery made from Spondylus shells were made at the Varna Necropolis. During the late Neolithic the use of Spondylus in grave goods appears to have been limited to woman and children.
S. princeps is found off the coast of Ecuador, and has been important to Andean peoples since pre-Columbian times, serving as offerings to the Pachamama, as well as some kind of currency. In fact, much like in Europe, the Spondylus shells also reached far and wide, as pre-Hispanic Ecuadorian peoples traded them with peoples as far north as present-day Mexico and as far south as the central Andes. The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped animals and the sea, and often depicted Spondylus shells in their art. 
.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Underwater photo Ayia Napa 3mts deep,07.06.2015  by Costas Constantinou

Thursday 3 December 2015

Noble pen shell - Pinna nobilis - Linnaeus, 1758 - Πίννα - Cyprus

Photo by Costas Constantinou












Family Pinnidae

Pinna nobiliscommon name the noble pen shell or fan mussel, is a large species of Mediterranean clam, a marine bivalve mollusc in the family Pinnidae, the pen shells. It reaches up to 120 cm (4 ft) of shell length
The bivalve shell is usually 30–50 cm (1.0–1.6 ft) long, but can reach 120 cm (4 ft). Its shape differs depending on the region it enhabits. Like all pen shells, it is relatively fragile to pollution and shell damage. It attaches itself to rocks using a strong byssus composed of many silk-like threads which used to be made into cloth. These keratin  fibres that the animal secretes by its byssus gland are even 6 cm (2.4 in) long. The inside of the shell is lined with brilliant mother-of-pearl.
This species is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea, where it lives offshore at depths ranging between 0.5 and 60 m (1.6 and 196.9 ft). It could be found buried beneath soft-sediment areas (fine sand, mud, often anoxic)
This species is the origin of sea silk, which was made from the byssus of the animal.
In recent years, Pinna nobilis has become threatened with extinction, due in part to fishing, incidental killing by trawling and anchoring, and the decline in seagrass fields; pollution kills eggs, larvae, and adult mussels. The noble pen shell has been listed as an endangered species in the Mediterranean Sea. The European Council Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC, on conservation of natural habitats and the wild fauna and flora, proclaims that P. nobilis is strictly protected (by the Annex IV of EEC, 1992)- all forms of deliberate capture or killing of fan mussel specimens are prohibited by law.
As part of the Costa Concordia disaster recovery effort going on in Italy (2012), a group of about 200 Pinna nobilis was manually relocated to a nearby area due to the threat posed by subsequent engineering work.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Η πίννα (Pinna) (γράφεται και πίνα), είναι γένος δίθυρων μαλάκιων της οικογένειας των Πιννιδών και της τάξης των Ανισομυαρίων. Ζει στις εύκρατες και στις θερμές θάλασσες. Μοιάζει με τεράστιο μύδι. Το όστρακό της αποτελείται από λεπτά και πλατιά ελάσματα, τα οποία είναι ενωμένα στην κορυφή τους, ώστε να ανοίγουν και να κλείνουν Το ζώο, το οποίο τρώγεται χωρίς να είναι ιδιαίτερα εύγευστο, χρησιμοποιείται κυρίως ως δόλωμα στο ψάρεμα. Στο όστρακο της πίννας σπάνια σχηματίζονται μαργαριτάρια, τα οποία όμως δεν έχουν ιδιαίτερη οικονομική αξία.
Το μήκος του ζώου φτάνει τα 70 εκατοστά. Τα όστρακα της πίννας είναι λεπτά, σε σχήμα τρίγωνο και μυτερά στο ένα άκρο, ενώ από το άλλο είναι στρογγυλευμένα. Στο εξωτερικό μέρος έχουν χρώμα κίτρινο και από μέσα παρουσιάζουν ελαφρύ ιριδισμό.
Στον ελληνικό χώρο και ιδίως στη Χαλκιδική (στις Νέες Φώκιες) απαντάται η πίννα η ευγενής. Επίσης στη Μεσόγειο ζει και η πίννα η κτενοειδής, εδώδιμη. Το μήκος της είναι περίπου 20 εκατοστά. Αρκετά είδη συμβιώνουν με καβούρια (πιννοθήρες, γνωστά και ως πιννοκαβούρια), τα οποία βρίσκουν προστασία στην κοιλότητά της. Σε αντάλλαγμα, την προειδοποιούν να κλείσει τα ελάσματά της όταν υπάρχει κίνδυνος.
Εκτός από την αλιεία, όπου χρησιμεύει ως δόλωμα, η πίννα χρησιμοποιείται και για την κατασκευή μεταξένιων υφασμάτων. Συγκεκριμένα, η βύσσος της πίννας χρησιμοποιείται για κατασκευή τέτοιων υφαντών στην νότια Ιταλία και στη Σικελία. Επίσης, από τη βύσσο κατασκευάζουν κάλτσες και γάντια. Το είδος δεν κινδυνεύει άμεσα με εξαφάνιση, αλλά απαιτείται η λήψη μέτρων για την προστασία της.
Από τη Βικιπαίδεια, την ελεύθερη εγκυκλοπαίδεια
Underwater photos at Akrotiri by Kostas Aristeidou







Tuesday 20 October 2015

Purple dye murex or the Spiny dye-murex - Bolinus brandaris or Murex brandaris (Linnaeus) - πορφύρα - Cyprus













Bolinus brandaris (originally called Murex brandaris by Linnaeus), and commonly known as the purple dye murex or the spiny dye-murex, is a species of medium-sized predatory sea snail, an edible marine gastropod mollusk in the F
amily Muricidae, the murex snails or the rock snails.
This species is known in the fossil record from the Pliocene (age range: from 3.6 to 2.588 million years ago.). Fossil shells of this species have been found in Cyprus, Spain and Italy.
The size of the adult shell of Bolinus brandaris can reach about 60 to 90 mm. The shell is usually golden brown with a very long siphonal canal and a rounded body whorl with a low spire. There is a row of spines that corresponds to the end of each growth stage.
This snail lives in the central and western parts of the Mediterranean Sea and has been found on isolated coral atoll beaches in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea. It was known since ancient times as a source for purple dye and also as a popular food source under various names, among which sconciglio, from which comes the word scungilli. This species lives on rocks in shallow water.
This species, like many other species in the family Muricidae, can produce a secretion which is milky and without color when fresh but which turns into a powerful and lasting dye when exposed to the air. This was the mollusc species used by the ancients to produce Tyrian purple fabric dye.
Sea snails of the species Banded dye-murex Hexaplex trunculus were also used to produce a purple-blue or indigo dye. In both cases, the mollusks secrete the dye in the mucus of their hypobranchial glands.
It is a cannibalistic species; evidence suggests that intensive breeding by the ancient Minoans resulted in pierced shells, perhaps by other snails, due to the population density in breeding tanks.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Η πορφύρα είναι χρωστική ουσία που παράγεται με την επεξεργασία του οστράκου Haustellum brandaris και η οποία δίνει ανεξίτηλο βαθυκόκκινο χρώμα. Ήταν ιδιαίτερα πολύτιμη λόγω της δυσκολίας παρασκευής και της σπανιότητας των οστράκων από τα οποία παράγεται, οπότε η χρήση ενδυμάτων βαμμένων με πορφύρα ήταν από την κλασσική αρχαιότητα ένδειξη πλούτου και εξουσίας. Έτσι, με το χρώμα της πορφύρας βάφονταν μεταξύ άλλων ορισμένα ενδύματα βασιλιάδων και αυτοκρατόρων. Γνωστές άλλωστε οι λέξεις πορφυρογέννητος και πορφυρογέννητη, για τα παιδιά που γεννήθηκαν όταν ο πατέρας τους ήταν αυτοκράτορας, σε ένα ειδικό δωμάτιο με πορφυρούς τοίχους. Κατά την συνήθεια της εποχής τα νεογέννητα παιδιά των αυτοκρατόρων τα ακουμπούσαν σε ύφασμα πορφυρού χρώματος. Από τη Βικιπαίδεια, την ελεύθερη εγκυκλοπαίδεια
Photos Zygi  by George Konstantinou



Sunday 27 September 2015

Phorcus turbinatus or Monodonta turbinata (Born, 1780) - Χολιός - Cyprus

FamilyTrochidae

Phorcus turbinatus, common name the turbinate monodont, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the familyTrochidae, the top snails
The size of the shell varies between 15 mm and 43 mm. The very solid and thick, imperforate shell has a conical shape. It is whitish, tinged with gray, yellowish or greenish, tessellated with numerous spiral series of reddish, purple or chocolate subquadrangular blotches. The conoid spire is more or less elevated. The apex is eroded. The about 6 whorls are slightly convex, with impressed spiral lines between the series of blotches, the last generally descending anteriorly. The base of the shell is eroded in front of the aperture. The aperture is very oblique. The thick, smooth outer lip is beveled to an edge. It is pearly and iridescent within. The columella is flattened on the face, bluntly lobed within, pearly, backed by an opaque white layer.
This marine species occurs in the following locations:


  • Mediterranean Sea
  • Greek Exclusive Economic Zone
  • Portuguese Exclusive Economic Zone
  • Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone (Spain, Canary Islands)
  • .From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    .Photos Potamos tou Kmpou 15/7/2015 by George Konstantinou

Monday 21 September 2015

Giant tun - Tonna galea (Linnaeus, 1758) - Cyprus

Family Tonnidae

Tonna galea, commonly known as the giant tun, is a species of marine gastropod mollusc in the family Tonnidae (also known as the tun shells). This very large sea snail or tun snail is found in the North Atlantic Ocean as far as the coast of West Africa, in the Mediterranean Sea and the Caribbean Sea. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758
The shell of adult Tonna galea is very large, with an average height of 6 inches (150 mm). In terms of its weight however, the shell is very much lighter than the shell of most other large sea snails. The aperture of the shell is "distinctly round" and wide,[4] Shells of this species are often yellow-white in colour, with a blotch or band pattern that is brown.[3] The shell is thin and inflated, but still relatively solid and durable.
Tonna galea possess large salivary glands. The structure of these glands was first described and detailed by Heinrich Weber in 1927.Furthermore, the Giant Tun is also a luminescent species; this is an extremely rare characteristic among the prosobranch gastropods. The animal gives off light that is green-white in colour when it traverses through the water with its foot "well-extended"
This large sea snail is found in the North Atlantic Ocean (specifically the Canary Islands and Madeira), the Mediterranean Sea, the  Caribbean Sea, and in the waters off the coast of Angola, Cape Verde and West Africa. The preferred habitat for this species isseabeds that are muddy or sandy with seagrass beds. In the Mediterranean, these snails are typically found at depths ranging from just beneath the surface to 120 metres (390 ft).
Tonna galea has been placed on Annex II of both the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural HabitatsNand the Protocol of the Barcelona Convention for Protection against Pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. In spite these designations, it continues to be "exploited"
Information on the biology and life history of Tonna galea is scarce, due to the fact that the species has only rarely been studied. It is carnivorous, and utilizes its two proboscises—located on top of its head—to envelop its prey, which primarily consists of sea cucumbers. To a lesser extent it also feeds on sea urchinsstarfish. fish, bivalves and crustaceans. As a defense mechanism, the snail will squirt its highly-acidic saliva when disturbed. This contains approximately 2–5% sulfuric acid, which is used to kill its prey. The presence of this acid was recorded by Franz Hermann Troschel in 1854

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photos by George Konstantinou
Underwater photos by Kostas Aristeidou
Photos and video by Costas Constantinou