Osamu Kagawa at Tohoku University
BEACH life can be tough when you have to cope with the dramatic changes of the tides. One species of marine snail seems to wear a heatproof coat to help it survive.
Turban snails, so-called because of the shape of their shells, are often found on rocky shorelines. Although most turban snails will eagerly feast on algae, turban snails of the Lunella coreensis species in Japan are coated in a mat of it. And they accumulate it as a vegetative jacket as they grow, until they are entirely covered at maturity.
This type of algae also appears to only grow…
