E-Fauna Photo Gallery
Rhabdus rectius
(Western Straight Tuskshell)
©
Ronald Shimek
(Photo ID #39421)
Photographer's Submitted Details
Photo Location
Cowlitz Bay, Waldron Island, San Juan County, Washington, USA
Photographer
Ronald Shimek
Habitat
Subtidal Silty Sand
Photo Date
December 12, 1976
Upload Date
May 21, 2013
Elevation (m)
-15
UTM Zone #
Latitude
48.8777777777778
UTM Easting
Longitude
-125.185833333333
UTM Northing
Photo ID #
39421
Notes
This is the typical pose of a scaphopod from the text books, but it is an exceptionally rare posture in nature. This animal is probably spawning or preparing to spawn, as the gametes exit from the top aperture. Being exposed like this presents a risk to all sorts of predators. Laboratory experiments show that the animals are rarely visible like this, perhaps normally for only a few minutes over the course of a week. Only during spawning season is a there a reasonable chance of finding some animals exposed to photograph. This animal was on a mud slope at a depth of about 15 m.
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