Ocean stars, the beauty of the shell

Someone said: "There are as many shells in the sea as there are stars in the sky."

That's right! There are as many shells in the sea as there are stars in the sky. If we change our perspective, imagine you are looking down from the air: on the vast blue canvas, thousands of shells or shells are scattered in the ocean, or gently swaying, or blurry and flickering, dotted with stars, colorful... Soon you can't tell whether it is the stars in the sky falling into the sea, or the stars in the sea flying into the night sky.

Shi Tiesheng once wrote: "My grandmother said that when a person dies on earth, there is a star in the sky. When a person dies, he will rise to the sky and become a star to illuminate people walking on the night road." The clever thing is that shells are also a kind of lost relic, and they carry rich life information. Through the interpretation of shells, we can understand where it lived in the sea, what it liked to eat, what survival skills it had, how long it survived, what changes in the ecological environment it encountered, etc. From this perspective, each shell can be called an independent planet, and each shell is its unique life code.

Dr. Dietmar Metens, a famous biologist and science journalist, said: "When talking about mollusks, many people immediately think of those slimy things. They are slow-moving, dull and boring, but this is not the case. In fact, mollusks are the most fascinating and mysterious inhabitants on earth." The mollusks here are the owners of shells - shellfish. Shellfish are actually the second largest animal phylum in nature, with a number of 110,000 to 150,000 species, second only to arthropods, and most shellfish live in the ocean, which is a typical representative of marine biodiversity.

The ancestors of shellfish appeared about 570 to 540 million years ago. Their living habits vary with species and geographical distribution. Among the myriad creatures in nature, only the shells left behind by shellfish remain beautiful after death. The white-haired pupa pen snail that stole the clothes of the clownfish Nemo, the soft and romantic purple snail, the abstract landscape-like torreya shell, the thick salamander with retro peacock blue... red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple are all available, a veritable "palette of nature"; the dancing rock banana snail, the murderous scorpion snail, the beautiful rotary snail, the bone snail used as a comb for Venus... the shapes are ever-changing and ingenious.

Shells not only provide people with space for imagination in terms of color, texture and shape, but they also play an important role in the ecosystem. Shells "migrate" between the beach and the sea with the tide, which can reduce the erosion of the beach by the sea and ensure the stability of the beach.

Shells are home to many marine creatures. Whether on the beach or in the sea, countless types of microorganisms live in shells. Small fish can use them to hide, avoid danger, or hunt. Hermit crabs even use shells as their "little houses" and carry them everywhere. Some seabirds also use shells to build nests. Shells gathered together can also promote the formation of fish reefs. If shells are placed in marine ranches, artificial reefs will form faster and more. Seaweed grows on them, and marine microorganisms, small crabs, and small fish also have a place to live, forming a vibrant "little tribe". After the shells decompose naturally, they will also release calcium carbonate, which provides calcium for organisms on the beach or in the sea.

Shells are also the "enviromental ambassadors" of the ocean. They can decompose oil pollution, absorb heavy metals, and fix carbon, thereby improving the ocean's ability to absorb carbon dioxide and purifying seawater. In addition, since many shellfish swim around, they "transport" carbon dioxide to the seabed through breathing, excretion and calcification, and consume the products of photosynthesis of marine plants, which has a good regulating effect on carbon in the ocean and is the "behind-the-scenes hero" in reducing the greenhouse effect.

“The wonders cannot be fully expressed in words, and the details cannot be exhausted in writing.” There are still more mysteries of shells waiting for us to explore.