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Interesting Facts about Flamingo Tongue Snails
[Phylum: Mollusca] [Class: Gastropoda] [Order: Littorinimorpha] [Family: Ovulidae (false cowries)]
The aposematic body colouration of one of the sea snail species is actually a defencive mechanism that is meant to discourage predation.
This segment contains fun facts about the flamingo tongue snail (Cyphoma gibbosum), including their geographical range, feeding habits, reproduction, and colourful life cycle.
Where Do the Flamingo Tongue Shells Live?
Flamingo tongues are brightly-coloured marine gastropod invertebrates found in some tropical and subtropical ecosystems, particularly in:
- Southern Florida and the Keys
- The Caribbean Islands (especially the Lesser and Greater Antilles)
- Northern coastlines of South America (e.g. Colombia, Venezuela)
- The Gulf of Mexico
- Western Atlantic Ocean (e.g. North Carolina to the Bahamas)
They thrive better in sheltered reef zones that have little wave action.
In actual fact, the best places to spot Cyphoma gibbosum are shallow coral reef environments, ranging from less than a metre and down to depths of thirty (30) meters (100 feet) or more.
Flamingo Tongue Snail Characteristics
The key feature of these 'false cowries' is the dazzling coloration of the external soft tissue that wraps around the shell.
Even though the hard shell is a lackluster white or cream colour, the mantle that covers it (a layer of living tissue) is a striking mix of bright and pale orange with black ring marks (like leopard spots).
Here's the thing:
Apart from the striking appearance, and a preference for living in shallow coral habitats, the flamingo tongue snail can withdraw its mantle if it feels threatened. This defencive action reveals the cream-coloured shell underneath.
Even though the biggest recorded size of a flamingo tongue snail is around five (5) centimetres (2 inches), most adults will grow to a length of three (3) centimetres.
What Does Flamingo Tongue Snail Eat?
Despite their relatively small size, flamingo tongue snails are foraging predators with voracious appetites. They're coral-eaters that use their radula structures (a long ribbon with teeth) to graze on various types of soft corals, but especially gorgonia sea fans (in the order Alcyonacea).
The daily diet can also include species of branching octocorals with knobby protuberances and polyps, such as:
- Black Sea Rod (Plexaura homomalla)
- Briareum (often cultivated by aquarium hobbyists)
- Eunicea
- Pseudopterogorgia
- Whip corals
This particular sea snail species lives on the same host coral that it's feeding on.
It secretes chemicals that dissolve the host's soft tissues and turn them into a digestible food source.
After its radula has scraped away soft tissue polyps, it often leaves a visible trail of scarred destruction. However, the flamingo tongue snail tends to avoid overgrazing on any given coral colony.
As a consequence of that, the coral polyps regrow and recover soon after the snail has moved to feed on another host coral.
Interesting Fact: Cyphoma gibbosum has adapted to the chemical defences produced by some gorgonians. It is able to store the compounds in its own tissues and use them as a distasteful toxin - a defencive process known as "aposematism".
Flamingo Tongue Snail Reproduction
Because the flamingo tongue snail is either a male or a female (e.g. they're not hermaphroditic), they multiply via sexual reproduction.
The mating ritual begins when a male transfers sperm to the female reproductive organ. After internal fertilisation, the female lays a mass of eggs onto the surface of the host coral - usually a gorgonian.
Key takeaways...
It is common for hundreds of these tiny snail eggs to appear as "gelatinous clusters" and it takes around ten (10) days for the eggs to hatch.
The free-swimming planktonic larval veligers drift in the water column during the larval development phase. They feed on plankton and other microscopic developing organs.
They eventually metamorphose into juvenile flamingo tongue snails and find a suitable gorgonian to continue the life cycle.
Threats and Predators
In spite of the snail's aposematic colouration and its chemical defence system, some marine animals eat flamingo tongue snails, especially:
Plus, certain human-related threats are giving scientists some cause for concern as the population diminishes in a few regions. Some of the common issues include:
- Coral reef destruction and degradation
- Overfishing
- The aquarium trade
- Warming seas
Pro Tip: The IUCN has little information about the conservation status of the flamingo tongue snail. Nonetheless, their long term survival is an integral part of balanced and healthy coral reef ecosystems.