Range: Tropical and temperate oceans worldwide Habitat: Bubble rafts in the open ocean Size: About 1.5 inches (4cm) long Diet: Blue buttons, Portuguese men of war, and jellyfish Threats: Unknown Life span: Unknown

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing purple sea snails.Purple sea snails are also known as violet snails and are named so because of their appearance. Purple sea snails have shells that are purple towards the shell’s opening and gradually fade to white towards the tip of the shell’s spiral. This is called countershading and helps keep these gastropods camouflaged. The darker parts of the purple sea snail points upward meaning the snail is not as easy to distinguish from the surrounding dark sea when viewed from above; and, in contrast, the lighter sections blend in with the light from above when viewing the snail from below. This helps to keep violet snails safe from hungry mouths, especially since they can’t move away on their own if attacked. However, if found, violet snails may be taken by sea turtles, fish, birds, sea slugs, and other marine invertebrates.

A purple snail’s squishy body ranges in color from black to violet and varies among species and individuals. These snails have a foot, forked tentacles with no eyes, and a cylindrical snout that ends in a mouth. Towards the rear of the snail is a funnel. From here, purple sea snails secrete rubbery bubbles which are mucus mixed with air drawn from outside of the water column. These bubbles keep these snails afloat and are also why these gastropods are known as bubble raft snails!

Purple sea snails are at the mercy of wind and water currents when it comes to getting around. Their constructed bubble rafts keep them afloat, but if all these bubbles were to pop, a purple sea snail would sink - and that would mean death because these snails can’t produce their own bubbles without the air they take from the water’s surface and they can’t survive on the ocean floor. If you think about it, depending on where they are in the ocean it would be a long, long way to fall. So, they basically live their lives suspended above an abyss. Thankfully, these bubble raft snails don’t seem to worry too much about sinking because they eat some fierce predators. Prey to violet snails include blue buttons, the Portuguese man of war, as well as jellyfish - all animals that can pack their own sting depending on the species!

There are currently only a handful of described species in the purple sea snail genus. In size, these snails reach about 1.5 inches (4cm) in length across their shells from top to bottom. Purple snails are quite limited on where they can actually live. These snails are part of the group of animals that live in the in between section where water and air meet - in essence, they float on the very top of the ocean’s water column. Violet snails are found worldwide in tropical and temperate oceans.

Sometimes, they are found washed up on shore, as well. This isn’t necessarily purposeful on the sea snails’ part - they simply have no control over where they end up. So how do they get to the ocean’s surface in the first place? It’s believed that all purple sea snails begin life as males and transition to females over time. Male release sperm that swim into the female where her eggs are fertilized inside her body. The female will brood her young until they have developed into small adults at which point they’ll be released into the water. At this stage, purple sea snails have tiny “wings” they use to swim, but these are lost as they mature and start their lives surviving on their homemade bubble rafts.

For more facts on purple sea snails, check out the links in the description. Thank you to Aether Slugster and Ahmet K for today’s request! Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!