(American Museum of Natural History, 2018)
Now introducing the first shining star, the Flamingo Tongue Snail. The flamingo tongue, or Cyphoma gibbosum, is a small marine snail that lives in the western Atlantic Ocean (oceana.org, 2022). It only grows to be about 2- 3 centimeters in length (oceana.org, 2022). This species is known for its bright coloration, with pink or orange coloration, and black spots (oceana.org, 2022). Flamingo tongues are predators that specialize in eating soft corals (oceana.org, 2022). As they slowly crawl along the bodies of their prey, they eat away the soft tissue, leaving only the coral’s skeleton behind (oceana.org, 2022). They take in the toxins from certain corals to be toxic themselves, using their bright colors as a warning sign, known as aposematic coloration (oceana.org, 2022). The flamingo tongue reproduces through internal fertilization, and the female lays her sticky eggs on the soft corals where she lives and a male finds them (oceana.org, 2022). The population is unknown but many people try to collect them for their colors, but like most sea slugs there is not yet a reason for concern (oceana.org, 2022).3 If it were not wrong I would want one for myself, maybe without the toxin part too.
(2022)
Up next is a complete light in my life, my all-time favorite animal, the whale shark. Despite the name, the whale shark or Rhincodon typus is not a whale at all (oceana.org, 2018). They are known as the biggest fish in the world. They can travel across entire oceans for phytoplankton blooms and spawning locations (oceana.org, 2018). As opposed to the other large sharks, whale sharks give birth to hundreds of very small babies (oceana.org, 2018). The babies are kept in reinforced shells within the abdomen until they hatch and are then released rather than just left behind like most egg laying marine organisms (oceana.org, 2018). These beautiful whale sharks are also unique in that they are covered with white spots, each has its unique spot pattern similar to a leopard (oceana.org, 2018). This makes them easier to identify from each other by mapping their spots and track the far distances they travel (oceana.org, 2018). Unfortunately, the whale shark has been fished quite heavily over the last several decades (oceana.org, 2018). Whale shark meat is eaten in some parts of the world, and the fins are valuable as well. This has led the species to near extinction (oceana.org, 2018). Fortunately, a large tourism industry has been developed for viewing whale sharks in the wild, and they have become much more valuable alive rather than dead (oceana.org, 2018). This also has led to an increase in legal protection. They are incredibly graceful and gentile creatures that deserve to survive.
Works cited:
American Museum of Natural History. (2018). Meet the Flamingo Tongue Snail. Facebook. Retrieved October 5, 2022, from https://www.facebook.com/naturalhistory/photos/a.61738066990/10155345550856991/?type=3
Guardian News and Media. (2022, July 25). Whale Sharks are world’s biggest omnivores, study finds. The Guardian. Retrieved October 5, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/25/whale-sharks-become-worlds-biggest-omnivores-study-finds
oceana.org. (2022, July 19). Flamingo tongue. Oceana. Retrieved October 5, 2022, from https://oceana.org/marine-life/flamingo-tongue/
oceana.org. (2018, July 14). Whale shark. Oceana. Retrieved October 5, 2022, from https://oceana.org/marine-life/whale-shark/
Not going to lie, when I first opened your post, I definitely thought the Flamingo Tongue Snail was some sort of exotic lava lamp. I like how in this post you used some really scientific terms like “aposematic coloration” and explained them clearly. That is so unfortunate that the Whale Shark is being heavily fished, and that’s good that you can use this blog to share that. Do you know why exactly it’s called the Whale Shark?
I love the unique animals you choose to write about, your weekly blogs are defintely something to look forward to. You do a really good job on your intext citations as well as citations at the bottom. Your technique of writing about these animals is so well done as well; really brings the reader in.