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Marine snail Cyphoma (Flamingo Tongue) on a soft coral.

Marine snail Cyphoma (Flamingo Tongue) on a soft coral.
Marine snail Cyphoma (Flamingo Tongue) on a soft coral.
Marine snail Cyphoma (Flamingo Tongue) on a soft coral.
Marine snail Cyphoma (Flamingo Tongue) on a soft coral.
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335801
Whalen, Kristen
Marine snail Cyphoma (Flamingo Tongue) on a soft coral.
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05/09/2008
whalen_Cyphoma_on_gorgonian.jpg
Caption from Oceanus magazine, Vol. 47, No. 1, Pg. 14:
Over evolutionary time, soft corals developed poisonous compounds to deter predators, while the marine snail Cyphoma evolved a collection of genes and proteins called a "defensome" to detoxify coral compounds and allow it to feed on the corals.
Image of The Day caption:
A Flamingo Tongue snail crawls over soft corals in the Caribbean. In an "arms race" over evolutionary time, the corals developed toxins that deter predators, but the snail evolved a group of genes and proteins called a "defensome" that detoxify coral compounds and allow it to eat the corals. This work, by student Kristen Whalen in biologist Mark Hahn's lab is included in a recent issue of Oceanus magazine featuring MIT/WHOI Joint Program students.
Photo by Kristen Whalen
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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