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  • This is a Pterosoma planum a species of predatory snail that lives in the open oceans of the Indo-Pacific region. The pink proboscis is the animal's mouth, with two eyes also visible. The gastropod's shell seen below the animal in this image. Photographed in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
    pterosoma-planum-pelagic-snail-japan...tif
  • This rose petal bubble shell (Hydatina physis) is gathering and arranging freshly secreted eggs on its mantle, prior to attaching the completed egg mass to the sand with a mucous thread. After this is complete, the gastropod burrows back into substrate and disappears.
    hydatina-physis-with-eggs-rose-petal...tif
  • This is a head-on view of Pterosoma planum, a species of predatory snail that lives in the open oceans of the Indo-Pacific region. The animal's gills are to the rear and raised above the animal in this image, with its eyes and feeding proboscis oriented forward and to the bottom. Photographed in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
    pterosoma-planum-pelagic-snail-japan...tif
  • This is a sea elephant (Pterotrachea coronata), a predatory pelagic mollusk. This individual was encountered in a shallow bay. It was alive and swimming, but in poor condition. These animals use their extended proboscis to grab prey. Their vital organs are contained in the visceral nucleus at the rear of the body. One of the animal's eye is clearly visible. Photographed in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.
    pterotrachea-coronata-sea-elephant-j...tif
  • This is a Cavolinia uncinata, a species of small pelagic mollusk that is found around the world. Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of individuals or more appeared for several days in southern Japan, drifting with currents. As pictured here, the snails use nets of mucus to capture food.
    cavolinia-uncinata-sea-butterfly-jap...tif
  • This is a Cavolinia uncinata, a species of small pelagic mollusk that is found around the world. Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of individuals or more appeared for several days in southern Japan, drifting with currents. As pictured here, the snails use nets of mucus to forage for food.
    cavolinia-uncinata-sea-butterfly-jap...tif
  • This rose petal bubble shell (Hydatina physis) is burrowing back into the substrate after having emerged to produce the eggs pictured here. This marine snail gathers and arranges its eggs on its mantle before attaching the completed mass to the sand with a mucous thread.
    hydatina-physis-with-eggs-rose-petal...tif
  • Chromodoris hintuanensis lifting its skirt
    Chromodoris-hintuanensis-nudibranch-..tiff
  • Dramatic lighting for a nudibranch that is common in the Indo-Pacific region, Chromodoris annae
    Chromodoris-annae_nudibranch-ambon-2..tiff
  • A pair of Nembrotha cristata nudibranchs enjoying a morning tryst
    green-and-black-Nembrotha-cristata-n..tiff
  • Dramatic lighting for a nudibranch that is common in the Indo-Pacific region, Chromodoris annae
    Chromodoris-annae_nudibranch-ambon-2..tiff
  • Wide-angle macro photograph of a large, red Spanish dancer nudibranch scavenging the reef at night in Ambon, Indonesia
    Spanish-dancer-Hexabranchus-sanguine..tiff
  • Glossodoris nudibranch moving along the reef
    Glossodoris_nudibanch-Ambon-201011-3..tiff
  • A cute baby Jorunna rubescens nudibranch
    Jorunna-rubescens-nudibranch-juvenil..tiff
  • Wide-angle macro photograph of a large, red Spanish dancer nudibranch scavenging the reef at night in Ambon, Indonesia
    Red-Spanish-dancer-Hexabranchus-sang..tiff
  • This is a red-spotted blenny (Blenniella chrysospilos) poking its head out of its home in the coral, with two coral hermit crabs (Paguritta sp.) visible in the background. The blenny's home is the abandoned burrow of a vermetid gastropod, Dendropoma maximum.
    blenniella-chrysospilos-red-spotted-...tif
  • This is a pair of tri-spine horseshoe crabs (Tachypleus tridentatus) walking across the ocean bottom in shallow water just prior to spawning. The smaller male uses modified legs (pedipalps) to grasp onto the female in front. The female has just started to burrow into the substrate, a process which involves digging deep enough to bury the front part of her body (Prosoma) and much of her abdominal area (Opisthosoma) as well. When she eventually reaches acceptable depth and deposits eggs, the male will fertilize them. Females often deposit several clutches of eggs in the same general area before moving on to do the same in different locations.<br />
<br />
Note the gastropod riding on the female’s head. Shells, barnacles and other similar passengers seem relatively common on these horseshoe crabs.<br />
<br />
Although these animals are called crabs, they are not members of the Subphylum Crustacea. They belong to a separate Subphylum—Chelicerata—which also comprises sea spiders, arachnids, and several extinct lineages such as sea scorpions. The earliest known fossils of horseshoe crabs date back 450 million years ago, qualifying these animals as living fossils, as they have remained largely unchanged.<br />
<br />
Tachypleus tridentatus is the largest of the four living species of these marine arthropods, all of which are endangered.
    tachypleus-tridentatus-horseshoe-cra...tif
  • This is a pair of endangered tri-spine horseshoe crabs (Tachypleus tridentatus) moving across the ocean bottom, with the larger female in front and the male clasped onto the rear. The tips of some of the animals’ legs are visible.<br />
<br />
The female is searching for a location to spawn. Once she finds a place that she likes, she burrows partially into the substrate and deposits a clutch of eggs, which the male fertilizes. Such spawning occurs repetitively. When searching in this manner, horseshoe crabs can travel at a relatively rapid pace. Otherwise, they tend to move slowly, as evidenced by the gastropod that has crawled on top of the male’s head.<br />
<br />
Although these animals are called crabs, they are not members of the Subphylum Crustacea. They belong to a separate Subphylum—Chelicerata—which also comprises sea spiders, arachnids, and several extinct lineages such as sea scorpions. The earliest known fossils of horseshoe crabs date back 450 million years ago, qualifying these animals as living fossils, as they have remained largely unchanged.<br />
<br />
Tachypleus tridentatus is the largest of the four living species of these marine arthropods, all of which are endangered.<br />
<br />
Though habitat loss and overharvesting of these animals for food are primary contributors to the population decline of horseshoe crabs, the biomedical industry is also a major factor. Horseshoe crabs are bled for their amoebocytes (akin to white blood cells), which are used to derive an extract that reacts in the presence endotoxin lipopolysaccharide, which is found in the membranes of gram-negative bacteria. Estimates suggest that between three and 30% of the animals die as a result. There have also been suggestions that taking up to a third of each animal's blood adversely affects their ability to undertake vital functions, such as procreation, even if the animals survive.
    tachypleus-tridentatus-horseshoe-cra...tif
  • This is a pair of tri-spine horseshoe crabs (Tachypleus tridentatus) walking across the ocean bottom in shallow water just prior to spawning. The smaller male uses modified legs (pedipalps) to grasp onto the female in front. The female has just started to burrow into the substrate, a process which involves digging deep enough to bury the front part of her body (Prosoma) and much of her abdominal area (Opisthosoma) as well. When she eventually reaches acceptable depth and deposits eggs, the male will fertilize them. Females often deposit several clutches of eggs in the same general area before moving on to do the same in different locations.<br />
<br />
In the shallow intertidal area where this photograph was taken, pockets of air were trapped in the gravel and mud. Digging by female horseshoe crabs sometimes releases some of the air, as seen in this image. Note also the gastropod riding on the female’s head. Shells, barnacles and other passengers seem to be relatively common on these horseshoe crabs.<br />
<br />
Although these animals are called crabs, they are not members of the Subphylum Crustacea. They belong to a separate Subphylum—Chelicerata—which also comprises sea spiders, arachnids, and several extinct lineages such as sea scorpions. The earliest known fossils of horseshoe crabs date back 450 million years ago, qualifying these animals as living fossils, as they have remained largely unchanged.<br />
<br />
Tachypleus tridentatus is the largest of the four living species of these marine arthropods, all of which are endangered.
    tachypleus-tridentatus-horseshoe-cra...tif
  • Inaba-san holding an edible gastropod she collected in the ocean, with more in the basket below. This Turbo sazae sea snail is a popular food item in Japan. It was misclassified as Turbo cornutus from 1786 until 2017.
    ama-diver-izu-japan-201006-0369.tif
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