Page 83 - Caribbean Reef Life Demo

SMOOTH SCOTCH BONNET (Semicassis granulata) < 7.5 cm / 3 in Thin rounded shell with a sharp conical spire. Irregular reddish-brown bands. Light brown mantle.
Larger snails, such as the Triton’s Trumpet on the left , are slow-motion hunters, smelling out and attacking even slower animals like sea stars. After ipping it over, it secretes a special saliva into the sea star, which paralyzes it. It can then feed at its leisure, often starting out on the softer tissues around the mouth. The Triton’s Trumpet has a serrated organ in its mouth called the radula, for sawing off pieces of its prey. It can also eat smaller mollusks whole, not bothering to cut them up rst. After the prey has been digested, the spines or bits of shell are spat out.
Many larger snails carry a sharp blade near the mouth called an operculum. This perfectly covers the opening into their shells. When threatened, the animal can pull itself uickly inside its shell and the operculum closes like a door. It is attached to the strong muscular foot and can help the animal to move along the sea oor. This sharpened appendage can also be used as a weapon, slashing sideways across a predator such as an octopus that might try to get into the shell.
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