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Planktonic snails, heteropods

Planktonic snails, heteropods
Planktonic snails, heteropods
Planktonic snails, heteropods
Planktonic snails, heteropods
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207191
Maas, Amy
Planktonic snails, heteropods
Still Image
09/12/2012
sharp_eyed_snails.jpg
Caption from 2013 wall calendar:
April - Sharp-eyed Snails
Planktonic snails called atlantid heteropods spend their lives far from the surface, the sea floor, and the shore. Their coiled transparent shells keeled for stability and flotationreveal red V-shaped ovaries in one animal, and pink eggs in others. Dime-sized predators, they stick their heads out of their shells like a turtle when swimming, and their large black eyes give them very good vision for finding prey. Biologists Gareth Lawson and Amy Maas study planktonic snails to assess their sensitivity to increasing ocean acidification that can corrode shells.
Image Of The Day caption:
Planktonic snails called atlantid heteropods live in the open ocean far from the surface, the sea floor, and the shore. Their transparent shells reveal red V-shaped ovaries in one animal and pink eggs in others. These dime-sized predators have large, black eyes that give them very good vision for hunting prey in the dark ocean depths. Biologists Gareth Lawson and Amy Maas study these planktonic creatures to assess their sensitivity to increasing ocean acidification that can corrode shells. This image is in the 2013 WHOI calendar, available at the WHOI store and at the Ocean Science Exhibit Center.
Photo by Amy Maas
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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