Mollusc · swimming snail

Sea angel

Clione limacina

PacificAtlanticIndianSouthernArctic Found in 3 oceans

Depth

Surface to about 600 m

Size

Often 2 to 3 cm, up to 8 cm

Diet

Only the sea butterfly Limacina helicina in polar waters

Zone

Sunlit zone · 0 – 200 m

Key facts

• It is a shell-less snail that swims by flapping two small wings.
• It catches its prey with six red cones that come out of its mouth.
• In an aquarium, it survived 356 days without eating, shrinking by half.
• It stores a lot of fat to get through the polar winter.

Verified sources

1. Böer et al. 2006, Polar Biology : long-term starvation of Clione limacina
2. Böer et al. 2005, Marine Biology (Norwegian Polar Institute)
3. Walla Walla University : Clione limacina

In the game: To observe

In the same zone

Antarctic krillEuphausia superba Weddell sealLeptonychotes weddellii European eelAnguilla anguilla Portuguese man o’ warPhysalia physalis Northern bottlenose whaleHyperoodon ampullatus Giant manta rayMobula birostris