Flamingo Tongue Snail

Fascinating facts about the Flamingo Tongue Snail

• The vivid orange-yellow body with black markings that catches the eye is not the colour of the shell at all, but comes from the live mantle tissue that drapes over it. This mantle normally covers the shell, giving the snail its striking appearance as it moves across the reef. When the animal is attacked the mantle can be pulled back, briefly exposing the dull shell beneath. The bright mantle is therefore the feature most often seen by snorkelers.
• If a predator approaches, the flamingo tongue snail retracts its mantle flaps, uncovering the shell that lies underneath. The exposed shell is relatively plain, with a smooth, shiny dorsum that may be white or orange and a wide aperture whose interior is white or pinkish. This defensive retraction is only triggered during an attack, allowing the snail to hide its colourful mantle. Once the threat passes the mantle is extended again, restoring its bright display.
• Shells of the species usually measure between 25 and 35 mm in length, though some individuals are as small as 18 mm and the largest recorded reach 45 mm. The shell is elongated and its dorsum bears a thick transversal ridge, giving it a streamlined profile. Its surface is smooth and shiny, often white or orange, and lacks markings except for a single longitudinal white or cream band.
• The flamingo tongue snail is the most common member of its genus and lives throughout the tropical western Atlantic, from North Carolina down to the northern coast of Brazil and including Bermuda, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Lesser Antilles. It inhabits reef habitats where soft corals grow, which form its primary food source. The species can be found from just below the surface down to about 90 m deep, with recorded occurrences as shallow as 0.3 m.
• Although historically abundant, the flamingo tongue snail has become noticeably scarce in areas that receive heavy tourist traffic. Divers and snorkelers often collect the snail, mistakenly believing the vivid mantle colours belong to the shell, which leads to over-collecting.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Flamingo Tongue Snail

The Flamingo Tongue Snail is one of the most strikingly coloured creatures on Caribbean coral reefs. But the vivid orange, black-edged spots are not painted on the shell, they are the snail's mantle tissue, a living layer of cells draped over the outside of an otherwise plain white shell. When the snail dies, all colour vanishes.

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