Creature 289: Janthina janthina

Mucous bubble rafts.

Janthina janthina is a snail commonly known as a violet snail or purple snail.

These marine snails are in a group which are mostly ocean floor dwellers, but this species lives on the ocean's surface, an unusual habitat for a snail. They create a raft of bubbles underneath them which gives them buoyancy to float upside down on the surface. These bubbles are made from mucus, like the mucus which forms snail trails in land snails. They eat various surface dwelling Cnidarians.

Distribution:
These snails can be found in any ocean anywhere except arctic or antarctic waters.

Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Order: Hypsogastropoda
Family: Janthinidae
Genus: Janthina
Species: Janthina janthina

Image Links:

http://www.roboastra.com/Mollusc3/hppr656.html

http://www.livescience.com/16475-amazing-mollusks-images-snails.html