Tiny Miniature In The Ocean: Cyphoma gibbosum Aka The Flamingo Tongue

Flamingo tongue is a marine gastropod mollusk that lives on the coral reefs in the Caribbean and the Tropical Western Atlantic. This miniature is very colorful with bright pink or orange coloration with black spots and can grow between 2 to 3 cm in size. Specialized in eating soft corals and is typically found on sea whips, sea fans, and sea plumes. They slowly crawl on the bodies of their prey and eat, leaving only the skeleton behind. 

Gorgonian coral is a soft coral that contains a toxic chemical. While feeding on these corals, they do not suffer any harm. Instead, they incorporate this toxic material as a secondary chemical and become toxic themselves. As a result, the predator has a distasteful experience when they try to feed on these snails. These bright colors present on the Flamingo tongue serves as a warning to the predators, which is known as aposematism.

flemingo tongue, cyphoma gibbosum, snail

Flamingo tongue reproduces through internal fertilization - where the female lays the eggs on the soft corals where she lives. Their activity levels increase when the sun starts to rise and feed on the host throughout the day. During the night, their activity level decrease and remain inactive and settle on the host.

The conservation status of these species is not known. But divers and snorkellers often take them as collectibles, which results in a decrease in these colorful species in the ocean. However, the beautiful pattern present on the shell soon fades away when the flamingo dies after taken away from its natural habitat.

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