Can you keep the cute "jade rabbit" in the sea? I advise you to hold back!

⚠Calendar Girl Front Row Reminder⚠

This article is for those who are afraid of claustrophobia (but it's really cute!)

Are there rabbits in the sea? Yes, there are! The "little rabbit" we are going to talk about today is not only cute, but also full of "wildness". That's right, it's the Jade Rabbit Snail .

As a coastal person, my memories are filled with the joys of the sea, and picking up shells is one of the happiest things. There are many kinds of shells. Some people like shells with a warm texture, some like shells with gorgeous patterns, and some like shells with unique shapes. If you want to recommend a shell that combines these three advantages, the Jade Rabbit Snail should be a good choice.

Jade rabbit snail, I am also a rabbit, but... I have leopard print | Rokus Groeneveld

Two forms of a snail

Calpurnus verrucosus is a species of snail in the family Aplyidae, order Gastropoda, superfamily Aplysiae, class Gastropoda. Its English name is "Umbilical Egg Shell", which means "oval shell with navel". It is mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical seas in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Some soft corals growing in these warm seas are the home (and food) of Calpurnus verrucosus.

Rabbit snail on soft coral | trapezemark

If you are a beginner shellfish collector, you may not be able to associate the shells of the Jade Rabbit Snail with their ecological photos, because the difference is too great. The Jade Rabbit Snail is a shellfish of the Baby Superfamily , and they usually use the mantle to cover their shells when they are alive.

Body parts of the Jade Rabbit Snail | mnhn.fr1 (modified)

Dorsal and ventral view of the Jade Rabbit Snail | idscaro.net

This wrapping is not for fun, but for other reasons. Wrapped in colorful mantles, the shellfish of the Baby Superfamily have more shapes and colors than their shells, which give them more possibilities for survival.

Some of them carefully mimic the shape and color of their host corals to avoid being discovered by predators:

The coloration of the mantle of Crenavolva leopardus mimics the coloration of the host coral | Shigeru Harazaki / iNaturalist

Some are so bold that they choose bright colors to warn predators that "I am not tasty and even poisonous." For example, Cyphoma gihbosum, also known as Flamingo Tongue, has a mantle containing steroids and prostaglandins from corals, and the mantle covering the shell is a bright orange patch. These mimicry or alert states give the family of Cyphoma superfamily colorful colors and a variety of strange shapes.

Cyphoma gihbosum's mantle coloration is a warning coloration | Brian Mayes

Another polka dot artist in the coral reef

As a member of the superfamily of lobed corals, the Jade Rabbit Snail is no exception. Its color scheme is a mimicry of the "leather coral" (Sarcophyton spp. or Lobophytum spp.) it parasitizes. The mantle used by the Jade Rabbit Snail to wrap its shell is pure white, covered with small brown spots ; the wide abdominal foot that extends out of the shell mouth also follows the color pattern of the mantle. Does this combination remind you of another coral polka dot "artist" - the granular boxfish?

Can you find the Jade Rabbit Snail in the picture? | underwaterkwaj.com

Too far? Take a closer look. How many jade rabbit snails are there in the picture? | Skaphandrus

It is called "Jade Rabbit Snail", but it has polka dots all over its body, which is hard to accept. However, if you are lucky enough to take a closer look at the shell of the Jade Rabbit Snail, you will find that the name makes sense. The shell of the Jade Rabbit Snail is milky white, with light purple at both ends of the shell, and a circle of yellow-brown rings around the protrusions at both ends of the shell. The milky white shell and the smooth surface are very much like a diamond-shaped piece of white jade. Just imagine, a conch carrying such a white jade and extending its two long tentacles, the name of the Jade Rabbit Snail is justified. (Remember the first picture?)

The mantle opens, revealing a white jade | underwaterkwaj.com

Cold-Faced Soft Coral Killer

After reading this, if anyone is touched by the jade-white shell and polka-dot appearance of the Jade Rabbit Snail and wants to put it in his or her own coral tank, then I need to impart a little life experience to everyone - it is best not to do so .

Don’t be fooled by the cute and innocent appearance of the Jade Rabbit Snail, it is actually a greedy carnivore. Its food has been mentioned before, which is the common visitor in the saltwater coral tank - soft coral.

Jade Rabbit Snail and Sarcophyton Soft Coral | Nhobgood

If you want to describe the daily life of the Jade Rabbit Snail in one sentence, the most appropriate one is probably "quiet as a virgin, fast as a rabbit". Jade Rabbit Snails like to move around at night. During the day, they will quietly hide under soft corals or in rock crevices to rest. They will not move until the sun sets - this means that the "rabbits" will start to eat like crazy. They will take advantage of the night to climb onto the soft corals and nibble on the coral polyps in the soft corals. Jade Rabbit Snails are picky eaters and have a more specific diet, so if you are attracted to Jade Rabbit Snails and want to encounter them while diving, look for their traces near the soft corals!

Jade rabbit snail | underwaterkwaj.com

Although the Jade Rabbit Snail is quite specific in its diet, there are always a few in the family that are not picky eaters. Compared with the Jade Rabbit Snail, the Cufflink Sea Snail (Cyphoma gihbosum) is not picky at all. Its diet includes many species of the Octocorallia, and its eating manner is not very elegant, and the places it passes by are often a mess.

The cufflink sea snails have eaten away all the places they crawled through | wikipedia

Cute sea snails

Despite their greed, many species in the Ovulidae family are very good-looking and cute no matter how you look at them. Here are a lot of beautiful pictures to swipe your screen. Are you ready to collect them?

Prionovolva brevis | concholog

Dentiovula dorsuosa | Wikipedia

Volva volva | daveharasti.com

Phenacovolva brevirostris | Chaloklum Diving

Cyphoma signatum | lccsteemingwithlife.blogspot.com

Cuspivolva platysia | picssr.com

Author: Sundayhao

Cover image source: underwaterkwaj.com

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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