Check Out This Red-lined Bubble Snail from Australia - Observation of the Week, 1/13/20

Our Observation of the Week is this awesome Red-lined Bubble Snail, seen off of Australia by @belairjo!

Sure, this blog post is about a marine snail, but the observer became interested in nature photography when photographing a bird. “When zooming in for a photograph of a Kookaburra in my garden,” recalls Joanne Zerafa. “I loved being able to see the finer details and felt a sense of connection to the animal, as if I could experience the world from their perspective.”

Joanne spends much of her current nature photography time participating in citizen science, “tracking the presence of species, particularly the east coast population of Australian Grey Nurse Sharks who are critically endangered.” Individual sharks can be identified by their markings, so getting photos of them is really helpful.

She came across the snail you see above while on a dive with Feet First Dive, and it was spotted by divemaster Casey Hambrecht. “[This species] is a favourite in our region,” says Joanne. “You’d think that their neon mantle would make them easy to find, but due to their small size, it takes a keen observer to find them.”

Recognizable by that distinctive lined shell and the large, blue-outlined margin of its foot (and don’t forget that pair of black eye spots!), the red-lined bubble snail ranges throughout the Indo-Pacific region and is generally found in intertidal areas, but can be found subtidally. It is believed to feed mainly on polychaete worms.

Joanne (above, on a dive), tells me “I love how iNaturalist facilitates the research that citizen scientists carry out via their photography. Our observations are logged, species identified by scientists and enthusiasts and added to projects for further research.

iNaturalist has transformed the way I feel about the changing climate. Instead of feeling helpless, I feel like I am contributing to the provision of knowledge that could assist with establishing policies and protections that environments will need for their survival.

- by Tony Iwane

- Slugs and snails rasp away at their food with their radula. Check out plate 3 here for some SEM images of a Red-lined Bubble Snail’s crazy radula.

- A Red-lined Bubble Snail makes its way across some algae in this video.

Publicado el 13 de enero de 2020 a las 10:15 PM por