Flamingo Tongue SnailKyla Knox & Dimon Tucker

Cyphoma gibbosum• 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

Physical Features• 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.

Physical Features 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.

Diet • 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.

Predators• 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.

Predators

Protection • 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.

Protection• 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.

Special Adaptations• 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.

Reproduction•  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.

  

Reproduction• 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.

Threats• 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.

Extra Facts• 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.

Flamingo Tongue Snail!

Work Sited• http://www.seathos.org/tag/flamingo-tongue-snail/• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamingo_tongue_snail• http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/wallpaper/oc

ean/photos/unique-sea-creatures/unique06-flamingo-tongue-snail/

• http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/MarineInvertebrateZoology/Cyphomagibbosum1.html

• http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/MarineInvertebrateZoology/Cyphomagibbosum.html