Fingerprint cyphomas eat sea fans and sea whips
“What am I looking at?” That is usually what people think when they see a fingerprint cyphoma. What is a fingerprint cyphoma? These are about one-inch long gastropods. Think of them like underwater snails. Many divers are familiar with a similar marine gastropod, the flamingo tongue. Fingerprint cyphomas live on and consume sea fans and sea whips. I took this photo in the Upper Florida Keys, where this species is considered a rare sight.
So back to the original question, “What am I looking at?” Fingerprint cyphomas have cream-colored shells. They also have a white mantle with beautiful black and yellow stripes, resembling a fingerprint design. These ornate sea snails make for great macro photography subjects.
Did You Know?
- The fingerprint cyphoma is a close in relation to the flamingo tongue.
- They both feed on soft corals and they both have a hard pale shell.
- The minimum recorded depth of a fingerprint cyphoma is 0.3 m and the maximum recorded depth is 90 m.
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