Kyla Knox & Dimon Tucker
• I am the most common of several species in the genu. I live in the
tropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to
northern coast of Brazil, including the Bermuda, the Caribbean Sea,
the Gulf of Mexico and the Lesser Antilles.
• When I am alive, I appear bright orange-yellow in color with black
markings. However, these colors are not in the shell, but are only due
to live mantle tissue which usually cover the shell. My mantle flaps can
be retracted, exposing the shell, but this usually happens only when I
am attacked
• The flamingo tongue snail, scientific name Cyphoma gibbosum, is a
species of small but brightly colored sea snail, a marine gastropod
mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the cowry allies
• Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda Subclass: Prosobranchia Order:
Neotaenioglossa Family: Ovulidae
• When I am alive, I appear bright orange-yellow in
color with black markings. However, these colors are
not in the shell, but are only due to live mantle tissue
which usually cover the shell. My mantle flaps can be
retracted, exposing the shell, but this usually happens
only when the animal is attacked.
My shell reaches on average 25–35 millimeters length, with a
minimum size of 18 millimeters and a maximum shell length of 44
millimeters. The shape is usually elongated and the dorsum shows
a thick transversal ridge. My dorsum surface is smooth and shiny
and may be white or orange, with no markings at all except a
longitudinal white or cream band. My base and the interior of
Cyphoma gibbosum shell is white or pinkish, with a wide aperture.
• My species are reef dwellers that feed on the living
tissues of the soft coral (mainly Gorgonian coral) that
they live on.
• I feed on toxic sea fans and not only suffers no harm,
it incorporates the fans' venom and becomes toxic
itself.
• Cyphoma gibbosum has few natural predators. Hogfish, pufferfish,
and the Caribbean Spiny lobster were found to be a major predator.
The mantle of C. gibbosum is unpalatable and therefore is rejected
or ignored by fish. The behavior of it suggests that the mantle
provides protection through its distasteful qualities. However, fish can
attack, and there have been presence of mantle tears. This
distastefulness may arise from the sequestering of gorgonian
chemicals on which the animal feeds. C. gibbosum coloration and
aggregations warn potential predators of the presence of toxic
compounds that the snail has obtained from its food sources. C.
gibbosum has developed an effective defense from its prey.
• I am distasteful which leads to decreased susceptibility to predation.
• I have a thick shell for ovulids, potentially allowing them to survive attacks by
predators that reject them as prey items. Juvenile flamingo snails have thin
shells that are often the same color as their host gorgonians and are cryptic
and nocturnal in habits. They do not have aposematic coloration since that
would make them conspicuous and easily injured/preyed upon. The brightly
colored mantle of the snail covers its plain white shell with a fleshy lobes
which can be retracted back into its shell when disturbed. The mantle tissue
of the flamingo tongue snail is distasteful to many different predators. C.
gibbosum has sterols and prostagladins that are ingested from the host
gorgonians. This is the reason why C. gibbosum is distasteful and
unappealing to predators. C. gibbosum keeps its mantle extended, which
ensures that predators come in contact with their distasteful tissues. This is
unlike other gastropods that immediately retract into their shells when
handled. One of the only animals able to eat this snail is the grouper. This is
because they are indiscriminate feeders.
• Gregariousness may lead to decreased susceptibility to predators. It does not prefer to be
on a colony where other tongue snails used to be. This could be due to the gorgon increasing
its defenses of the lessened availability of tissue to eat. C. gibbosum clump together in
colonies so predators can recognize that they are bad to eat. If they lived solitary, they
would be surrounded by naïve predators who would try to eat them, thus injuring them.
Gregariousness helps decrease the number of predator attacks. C. gibbosum does not
immediately retract its mantle when handled, but keeps it extended. At the same time, C.
gibbosum curls its foot along the longitudinal axis, so that the sole is protected and only the
outer surface is exposed. The outer part of the mantle is covered with mantle tissue, and
possesses a pattern of brown, zebra-style stripes on an orange background. If handling
continues, the mantle and foot are withdrawn.
• The main adaptations of the Flamingo Tongue
Snail is its ability to make its shell seem like the
colors have changed into orange and yellow to
blend into the coral habitat it lives on.
• Cyphoma gibbosum follow the mucus trails left by conspecifics and
aggregate. Adults are dioecious and do not seem to change sex once
full grown. There are water-borne cues that serve as attracting
pheromones; over long distances these cues undoubtedly play an
important role in producing aggregations. All adult Flamingo snails
live and feed on gorgonian corals, and females oviposit
encapsulated eggs onto the bare axis of gorgonians, which are
exposed by the snails feeding activities. Oviposition occurs roughly on
a lunar cycle, although individual females can lay several egg masses
within a cycle. The eggs develop into planktonic larvae while still
encapsulated on the surface of the coral colony. However, the
duration of the planktonic phase is unknown.
• Around a week and a half after oviposition my larvae hatch out
of the capsules and spend an undetermined length of time
feeding on plankton. The larvae metamorphose into juveniles
and gradually grow to adult form. Many tiny juveniles can be
found on gorgonian coral colonies, and are rarely seen on any
other substrate, suggesting that larvae settle specifically onto
gorgonian colonies. Juveniles tend to hide under branches of the
coral colonies during the day and remain on the same colony
for long periods. In contrast, adults are visible during the day
and move frequently between coral colonies.
• I have become increasingly uncommon throughout Caribbean
and southern Atlantic Ocean due to the over-collecting by scuba
divers and snorkelers. Due to human predation, populations are
rapidly declining.
• The youngsters of this snail clan tend to stay in the same coral
colony hiding out on the underside of coral branches while their
seniors are more visible and mobile.
• The Flaming Tongue Snail’s mantle serves the same function as
gills on a fish allowing the snail to ‘breath’ by taking in oxygen
and expelling carbon dioxide from its body.
• Not too long ago the reefs of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge were
heavily populated with our little sea snail friends. Unfortunately,
in recent years their population has decreased dramatically
mainly because divers and snorkelers are removing them from
their habitats without realizing that the brightly colored mantle
is live tissue and not the color of their shells.
• http://www.seathos.org/tag/flamingo-tongue-snail/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamingo_tongue_snail
• http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/wallpaper/ocean/photos
/unique-sea-creatures/unique06-flamingo-tongue-snail/
• http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/MarineInvertebrateZoolo
gy/Cyphomagibbosum1.html
• http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/MarineInvertebrateZoolo
gy/Cyphomagibbosum.html