Flamingo Tongue Snail

Common Name: Flamingo Tongue Snail

Scientific Name: Cyphoma gibbosum

Family: Ovulidae - false cowries, predatory and parasitic sea snails

Class: Gastropoda - Snails and slugs

Conservation status: Not yet assessed

Sighting: First time sight, apparently it is common in reefs

While snorkeling in Dania Beach, taking pictures of different specimens of this branched sponge, very common in the area (soon to be featured in this blog, once we finish its identification), we noticed something unusual. If you watch the picture below, you can see three orange formations. Two of them , the two on the left and center, were just algae build ups. But the third one, had a brighter orange color, and more defined shape, so we too a closer look. 

In this enlarged picture of the creature, you can see better details. It does look like a slug, with beautiful bright pinkinsh-orange color, and yellow spots circled in brown. The actual size is about an inch (the diameter of the sponge branches is about thumb size).

We have spent some time searching sea slugs, trying to identify the species, unsuccessfully. Until we noticed that unusual protuberance in the middle of the body. This is not a slug, it is a snail!. A very peculiar one, as the bright color is not the shell, it is actually the mantle, that protrudes from the body and encloses the shell, which is plain white. The protuberance in the middle shows where the actual shell lays.

Finally, here is a video of the whole think, showing the sponge from the water level, and a close up of the sponge focused on the snail, as the sponge gently moves with the waves. The snail actually eats the sponge, which recovers growing more polyps.  

Definitively, a very exciting sight. We are looking forward seeing more specimens of this snail.