The Banded Tulip Snail

I got this image from oceanexplorer.noaa.gov

Fasciolaria tulipa

The Banded Tulip Snail can be either cream, brown, or reddish orange in color.  They have a smooth shell and are considered large for a snail.  These snails live in the Western Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and in Brazil.  The Banded Tulip Snail is found in warm, subitdall sandflats, and coral reefs.  The domain is Eukarya, the kingdom is Animalia, the phylum is Mollusca,  the class is Gastropoda, the order is Neogastropoda, the family is Fasciolariidae,  the genus is Fasciolaria, and the species is Tulipa.  They have bilateral symmetry, are ectothermic and are heterotrophs.  A structural adaptation is that they have a hard shell to protect their bodies, and they use their shell to camouflage.   A functional adaptation is that Banded Tulip Snails have a foot to help them move around.  The predators of this species are Horse Conchs, Stingrays and Crabs.  The diet of a Banded Tulip Snail consists of Gastropods and Bivalves.  Did you know that some Banded Tulip Snails will eat other, smaller Banded Tulip Snails for food?!