The one that got away!

Your average bi-valve spends most of its life partially buried in the seabed, waiting to filter fine particles of food from water currents. A pretty low-key existence, but it’s a living. Whereas the predatory sand snail Polinices sordidus can go right over the top!  They climb onto other molluscs to rasp a perfectly neat hole in the shell with their tongue, aided by a shell-dissolving secretion. Perhaps the victim’s only chance is for the an even bigger predator to arrive on the scene?

The two bi-valves and Sand Snail (aka Moon Snail) pictured here were found on Middle Park Beach. While the smaller bi-valve has been well and truly drilled. The larger shell has been attacked, but for some reason the snail quit before finishing the job. Every shell has a story to tell!