Mollusks, features and articles | Educational Science

Feb 23, 2017

Cave-Dwelling Snail Named for D&D Goddess of Darkness

A new species of cave-dwelling land snail from Brazil recently received a scientific name that recalls its subterranean habitat in a uniquely geeky way. Scientists named the tiny mollusk after the character Shar, the goddess of caverns, darkness and secrets, from the popular role-playing tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons. Researchers...

Apr 5, 2017

Newfound 'Spider-Man' Snail Is an Expert Web Slinger

A newfound species of colorful marine snail slings nets of mucus like superhero web slinger Spider-Man and is kind of cute, according to the scientist who found and described it. The tiny sea creature belongs to a group known as worm snails — soft-bodied mollusks encased in tubular shells with...

May 18, 2017

Photos: 'Lefty'-Shelled Snails Have 'Righty' Babies

Lookin' for Love (Image credit: Angus Davison/University of Nottingham)Jeremy is a rare snail, and despite many efforts by his caretakers, he is still looking for love. Jeremy is a garden snail with left-spiraled shell, a trait that makes him one in a million. Lefty, or sinistral snails, can mate only...

May 18, 2017

Strange Snail Love Triangle Leaves 'Lefty' Jeremy Without a Partner

It may sound like the plot of a twisted romantic comedy, but after a public campaign to find Jeremy — a snail with a rare left-spiraling shell — another lefty partner, the poor snail is still looking for love. Two lefty suitors that were sent to woo Jeremy have hooked...

May 14, 2018

Scientists Sucked a Memory Out of a Snail and Stuck It in Another Snail.

A new study strongly suggests that at least some memories are stored in genetic code, and that genetic code can act like memory soup. Suck it out of one animal and stick the code in a second animal, and that second animal can remember things that only the first animal...

Sep 13, 2018

Tiny Antarctic 'Kidnappers' Steal Sea Snails & Wear Them Like Backpacks

Pea-size pteropods, also known as sea snails, are translucent and delicate ocean organisms that protect themselves against predators with a potent chemical cocktail. However, another organism that's immune to pteropods' poisonous brew is taking advantage of the little snails' weapon. In the Southern Ocean, near Antarctica, tiny shrimp-like crustaceans called...

Jan 9, 2019

George the Snail, the Last and Loneliest of His Kind, Dies

George the snail won't be leaving any more silvery trails in his wake. The 14-year-old champ — the last known snail of his species — died in captivity on New Year's Day, 2019, according to Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). George belonged to the species Achatinella apexfulva,...

Jul 24, 2019

This Iron-Shelled Snail Is Totally Metal … And Now It’s Endangered

A sea snail that lives near hydrothermal vents thousands of feet below the ocean surface has a unique solution to navigating such a volatile home: It builds itself an armored shell out of iron. But while the overlapping rows of the snail's scales may resemble a miniature Iron Throne, they...

Sep 6, 2020

These sea snails fly like butterflies, sink like hang-gliders (VIDEO)

Some marine snails soar through the water by flapping their squidgy appendages to and fro, similar to butterfly wings — now, scientists have discovered that the shape of the snails' shells also helps them zip through the sea. The new study, published Sep. 7 in the journal Frontiers in Marine...

Oct 12, 2021

Giant snails that were eating Florida homes finally eradicated … again

Florida plays the unfortunate host to many invasive critters, from lionfish to Burmese pythons, but last week, officials announced that they had successfully eliminated a particularly slimy invader from the state: the formidable giant African land snail. The kicker is, giant African land snails (Lissachatina fulica) invaded Florida once before,...

Sep 30, 2023

Green-banded broodsac: The brain-hijacking parasite that creates disco zombie snails

Name: Green-banded broodsac (Leucochloridium paradoxum) Where it lives: Europe, North America and Japan What it eats: Waste in the digestive tracts of birds, before it is excreted Why it's awesome: This parasitic flatworm is best known for creating disco zombies: It takes over the bodies of amber snails (Succinea) by...

Oct 9, 2023

Bright yellow sea snail named 'margarita' in honor of late musician Jimmy Buffett

Researchers have discovered a new species of bright-yellow margarita snail hiding in plain sight on a coral reef in the Florida Keys. The tiny invertebrate, which lacks a traditional snail shell, can shoot out toxic mucus webs. The newfound species, named Cayo margarita as an homage to the late Jimmy...

Dec 7, 2004

Octopus Doesn't Give Up on Motherhood

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) _ It was a May-December romance that really had legs: Young Aurora, a female giant octopus and her aging cephalopod suitor J-1 were thrown together for a blind date seven months ago by aquarists who hoped the two would mate. By all appearances, their fling was a...

Apr 17, 2006

Oddly, Octopuses Have Ephemeral Elbows

You might never expect to tell a wobbly armed octopus to keep its elbows off the dinner table, but new research reveals the creatures stiffen their arms to form human-like joints to guide food to their mouths. A three-jointed human arm has only seven degrees of freedom (DOFs), which are...

Apr 15, 2009

All Octopuses Are Venomous

Contrary to what was known, all octopuses are venomous, a new study finds. Researchers knew that the blue-ringed octopus packed venom. Now they say all octopuses and cuttlefish, and some squid are venomous. In fact they all share a common, ancient venomous ancestor, the study indicates, and the work suggests...