A Birthday Surprise: Finding a Beautiful Queen Helmet Conch in the Bahamas
Last year, on my birthday, I made an incredible find by the dock in the Bahamas. This beautiful queen helmet shell was face down in just a few feet of water. From the surface, it looked like a big rock, but I decided to check it out, and I was not disappointed!
Fun fact: Helmets are carnivores and feed off the sandy bottom floor, searching for sea urchins and key-hole urchins, better known as sand dollars. They have an aggressive feeding behavior where they lift their shell high and smash it down on unsuspecting sea urchins, engulfing the creature. The helmet shell snail then secretes an enzyme to protect it against any toxins their prey might have.
They produce an acid to help break down the urchin, then drill a hole into the surface of their victim. The last move is to suck out the internal organs of their prey through the hole they drilled, allowing the creature to consume its meal quickly.
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