Scaphopods

Today I ran out of interesting gastropods I know of, so today I will be introducing scaphopods. Scaphopods (a.k.a. tusk shells) are a class that is made up of exclusively infernal organisms. As you may have gathered, their shells are shaped like tusks. Tusk shells live in soft substrates offshore (usually  in deeper waters) in all oceans. According to molecular data scaphlopods may be a sister group to cephalopods. Interestingly enough scaphopods' shells were used as a currency by the natives of the pacific northwest.

Scaphlopod Shells:

Scaphlopod Without Shell:

Abalone

Abalone are a group of small to large (the most recognizable are large) that belong in the family Haliotidae. Abalone are eaten in every country which has an abundant population (of abalone). While abalone consumption certainly isn't rare, it is considered a luxury item generally. In addition to delicious  food, abalone shells are use as jewelry. Jewelry production can be dangerous because the dust created from grinding and cutting shells is dangerous. Abalone shells are very strong and is made up of calcium carbonate tiles stacked on each other and there is also a "clingy" protein substance between the layers of the shell, abalone use both of these to their advantage so that when struck the layers slide and the protein absorbed the energy.    

Cooked Abalone:

Abalone Shell (inside):

Live Abalone:

Shell Structure:

TKAM Post (a.k.a. Those Darn English Teachers)

As I run this blog for an English class, I have to do what my teacher says, in this case write a post about a book I recently read for the class. So just a warning that this has absolutely nothing to do with mollusks.

The To Kill A Mockingbird Opinion Blog Post

Only after I read this book did I understand why it is revered as one of the greatest novels ever. I had only heard good things about it, but I have to say this is one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Now as  to the question why To Kill A Mockingbird is taught in schools around the country (other than the fact that it is a great book) I think it is mostly because this book was written in a time when people had a different mind-set than what we commonly have today.

On the topic of racism this book brings a lot of good information to readers who do not have experience with it. With the events that are happening today with the  police this book has some material in it which almost mirror what has been happening  today. A particular scene from this book comes to mind in relation to recent events, that scene is when people come to the jail ready to kill Tom Robinson (a black man) for no apparent reason other than they were caught-up in the moment (described in the book to be a kind hive-mind reaction).

Another great informative topic this book has in it is coming of age. This book covers several years in the live of Jean Louse (referred to as Scout), a young girl who learns  things about the way the world apparently works. She learns a bit about poverty, but what she really learns about are racism and social rules. She learns about how racism is (was) everywhere and how it can turn anyone into a thoughtless monster. Scout learns about social rules mostly through valuing herself above others and being corrected by family members.

My personal favorite component in this novel is virtue. Atticus is a very virtuous man and does a good job of passing on his virtuous nature, as well as good life lessons, on to his children. When Tom Robinson is accused of raping a white woman the judge specifically selects Atticus to defend him because of his virtuous nature. My favorite life lesson Atticus passes on is that you can't understand a person until you crawl into their skin and walk around in their shoes. I have known this for a while now, but not all people know this lesson and it is a very important skill to have in order to get along in society.

This book was certainly ground-breaking at the time and even now there is nothing quite like it. This book has to be one of my favorites now because it was a novel, but addressed real world problems very clearly and directly. Also it is especially relevant now with all the news of racially biased police shootings. It also is lined with small, but still very important, life lessons that can be applied to everyday life even now. To Kill A Mockingbird was written over 50 years ago and it still can be called a great book, and is used in English classes across the country. I think this is because (a slight revision on my previous opinion now) it was ground breaking when it first was published, and all of the issues expressed in this book are still relevant today. It is also just has a great story that might be a little outdated, but still makes you recall what it was like when you were a kid.

In summary, the reason this book is taught in schools across the country is because, it is a great combo of informative reading and a novel that interweaves and plays off each other to give you the great symphony of a book known as To Kill A Mockingbird.

Limpets

First off I want to clarify what limpets are (because quite frankly I didn't know what these were called before this post), please see picture below.

Now as anyone who likes to collect seashells can tell you limpets have very pretty and interesting shells, but what they probably won't be able to tell you is that:

A) They are a species of snail.

B) They actually evolved from several different gastropod ancestors (they just have similar shells).

Also (and this is my favorite fact of all time about limpets) limpets have past spiders in the manufacturing of the strongest biological material. Spiders silk can withstand about 4 GPa's (gigapascals: a unit of pressure that has replaced psi in various countries), and limpet teeth can withstand about 4.9 GPa's.

Limpet Teeth: 

Limpet Underview:

The Blue Dragon

Glaucus Atlanticus (a.k.a. The Blue Dragon) is a sea slug in the solid nudibranch category. The Blue Dragon is pelagic (doesn't live near bottom or shore), and it floats upside down on the surface of the water. The blue dragon is exceptional among sea lugs in its ability to first eat venomous creatures, and then use that venom for their own purposes (often in more concentrated an lethal doses than the original organism would administer). These slugs will eat other pelagic organisms including the Portugese man-of-war, which have a venom that is very painful to humans. The general affects of the venom are shock, fever, heart and lung problems, and has on very rare occasions lead to death.

Blue Dragon:

Blue Dragon upside down:

Sacoglossa

Now I know I said nudibranchs were my favorite gastropod, but some of these gastropods really made me have reconsider that comment. The gastropods that belong in the sacoglossa category are very interesting to say the least. They are also called "sap-sucking sea slugs", that are called this because their food source is the cellular contents algae. They are divided into two groups, one of which has a shell and are called Oxhynoacea. The other group that does not have a shell (called Plakobranchacea) is the reason why I had to reconsider my favorite gastropod. Plakobranchacea have evolved to use kleptoplasty, which allows them to maintain chloroplasts from the algae that eat and actually use the photosynthetic products as their primary food source for months. Some have "wing-like" structures to increase the surface area for photosynthesis. Some have also adopted the color of algae (because of the chloroplasts in their bodies).

Plakobranchacea with "wings" spread:

Plakobranchacea with "wings" unspread:

Green Sacoglussan:

Nudibranch

Nudibranchs are my personal favorite type of gastropods because of their stunning colors and shapes. Nudibranchs are what people think of when  they think sea slugs (not surprisingly because of their stunning features). The name nudibranch came from the latin "nudus" (naked) and the greek "branchia" (gills). Just from the definition of their names you can tell that they have exposed gill structures on them. Nudibranchs are divided into two main kinds: dorids, which have a branchial (gill) plume, and aeolids, which have cerata speed across their backs instead of a plume.

Dorids:

Aeolids: