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  • 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 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 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
  • This is a male Pfeiffer's Top Shell (Tegula pfeifferi) engaged in broadcast spawning. Unlike the dramatic pulse ejection of eggs by females, males of this species dribble sperm into the water a little at a time, with frequent pauses.
    tegula-pfeifferi-top-shell-broadcast...tif
  • This is a female Pfeiffer's Top Shell (Tegula pfeifferi) engaged in broadcast spawning. Having positioned herself in an elevated spot and raised herself to vertical orientation, the shell forcefully ejected clusters of green eggs three to four times in a row. She then reloaded and repeated for two additional rounds.
    tegula-pfeifferi-top-shell-broadcast...tif
  • This is a Pacific deer cowry (Lyncina vitellus) with eggs.
    lyncina-vitellus-with-eggs-pacific-d...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 violet snail (Janthina janthina), also known as a bubble raft snail. These pelagic snails are found worldwide in temperate and tropical waters. They are considered pleuston, macroscopic organisms that live at the interface of air and water. To float at the ocean surface, these snails use thin secretions of chitin to envelope bubbles of air, thus creating a buoyancy support. They bob upside-down below the ocean surface and wait for prey such as Portuguese man-of-wars (Physalia sp.) and by-the-wind sailors (Velella velella). When they sense such prey, bubble raft snails extend their long cylindrical snouts and use a rasping mechanism to grab prey, as pictured here. These snails are protandrous sequential hermaphrodites, meaning they all commence life as males, then become female. This snail, with a shell of about three centimeters, was found washed ashore with a mass stranding of thousands of colonial siphonophores.
    janthina-janthina-violet-bubble-raft...tif
  • Unidentified aeolid nudibranchs (Favorinus sp.) that appear to be feeding on eggs in a bubble-like egg case. The egg case may be that of a polychaete worm, or possibly a headshield slug of bubble snail (Cephalaspidea). See http://www.tonywublog.com/journal/aeolid-nudibranchs-eating-eggs-of-polychaete-worms for a discussion of this topic. Photographed in Lembeh Strait, Indonesia.
    favorinus-aeolid-nudibranch-eating-p...tif
  • This is a blue ocean slug (Glaucus atlanticus) approaching the venom-filled tentacles of a blue bottle (Physalia utriculus). Both were washed ashore as part of a mass, multi-day stranding of thousands of blue bottles, which are colonial siphonophores that are also called Portuguese man-of-wars. The nudibranchs are part of the rarely seen blue community of the open ocean. They prey on other animals in that community, such as Physalia utriculus, by-the-wind-sailors (Velella velella), blue buttons (Porpita porpita), and violet snails (Janthina janthina). Glaucus nudibranchs are immune to the venom of the blue bottles that they consume. They store their prey’s nematocysts and deploy them in specialized cnidosacs at the tips of their ornate cerata. Because these nudibranchs concentrate the venom of their prey, they can produce a more powerful sting than Physalia.
    glaucus-atlanticus-nudibranch-with-p...tif
  • This is a blue ocean slug (Glaucus atlanticus) that was washed ashore with a mass, multi-day stranding of thousands of blue bottles (Physalia utriculus). These nudibranchs are part of the rarely seen blue community of the open ocean. They prey on other animals in that community, such as Physalia utriculus, by-the-wind-sailors (Velella velella), blue buttons (Porpita porpita), and violet snails (Janthina janthina). Glaucus nudibranchs are immune to the venom of the blue bottles that they consume. They store their prey’s nematocysts and deploy them in specialized cnidosacs at the tips of their ornate cerata. Because these nudibranchs concentrate the venom of their prey, they can produce a more powerful sting than Physalia.
    glaucus-atlanticus-nudibranch-201711...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
  • Inaba-san, the last active Ama diver in Futo harbor, searching for shellfish. The hose supplies air to her, as well as audio communication with her husband, who is on the boat. Inside the yellow net basket are Turbo sazae sea snails, which are a popular food item in Japan.
    ama-diver-izu-japan-201006-0074.tif
  • This is a female Lottia emydia limpet sending a stream of eggs into the water during spawning. These sea snails aggregate in order to spawn en masse. Photographed in Hokkaido, Japan.
    lottia-emydia-limpet-spawning-japan-...tif
  • This is a female Lottia emydia limpet sending a stream of eggs into the water during spawning. These sea snails aggregate in order to spawn en masse. Photographed in Hokkaido, Japan.
    lottia-emydia-limpet-spawning-japan-...tif
  • Inaba-san, the last active Ama diver in Futo harbor, making her way across the rocks as she looks for Turbo sazae sea snails, with bad weather moving in overhead, lowering light levels and visibility
    ama-diver-izu-japan-201006-0330.tif
  • Inaba-san, the last active Ama diver in Futo harbor, searching for shellfish. The hose supplies air to her, as well as audio communication with her husband, who is on the boat. Inside the yellow net basket are Turbo sazae sea snails, which are a popular food item in Japan.
    ama-diver-izu-japan-201006-0192.tif
  • Inaba-san, the last active Ama diver in Futo harbor, searching for shellfish. The hose supplies air to her, as well as audio communication with her husband, who is on the boat. Inside the yellow net basket are Turbo sazae sea snails, which are a popular food item in Japan.
    ama-diver-izu-japan-201006-0071.tif
  • Inaba-san, the last active Ama diver in Futo harbor, searching for shellfish. The hose supplies air to her, as well as audio communication with her husband, who is on the boat. Inside the yellow net basket are Turbo sazae sea snails, which are a popular food item in Japan.
    ama-diver-izu-japan-201006-0023.tif
  • This is a female Lottia emydia limpet sending a stream of eggs into the water during spawning. These sea snails aggregate in order to spawn en masse. Photographed in Hokkaido, Japan.
    lottia-emydia-limpet-spawning-japan-...tif
  • Inaba-san carrying a net nearly filled with Turbo sazae sea snails. Once the net is full, she signals to her husband on the boat, who pulls the net up and sends down an empty net
    ama-diver-izu-japan-201006=0162.tif
  • Inaba-san, the last active Ama diver in Futo harbor, searching for shellfish. The hose supplies air to her, as well as audio communication with her husband, who is on the boat. Inside the yellow net basket are Turbo sazae sea snails, which are a popular food item in Japan.
    ama-diver-izu-japan-201006-0171.tif
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