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Sea butterflies, planktonic snails, Pteropods.

Sea butterflies, planktonic snails, Pteropods.
Sea butterflies, planktonic snails, Pteropods.
Sea butterflies, planktonic snails, Pteropods.
Sea butterflies, planktonic snails, Pteropods.
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Copley, Nancy
Sea butterflies, planktonic snails, Pteropods.
Still Image
08/28/2012
2012_08_28_2610_ed.jpg
Image Of the Day caption:
These marine snails are also called sea butterflies because of their winglike swimming appendages. Masses of pteropods drift with currents in the open ocean, where they provide food for fish and whales. Like garden snails, their earthbound relatives, pteropods build calcium carbonate shells. But pteropods thin, fragile shells may be vulnerable to the oceans changing chemistry. WHOI scientists have been investigating how these beautiful creatures and key links in the food chain will be affected by ocean acidification, comparing pteropods in ocean regions with normal acidity and regions already showing acidification.
Used in Oceanus online article slideshow, 10/23/2013. Caption for the slideshow:
These marine snails are also called "sea butterflies" because of their winglike swimming appendages. Masses of pteropods drift with currents in the open ocean, where they provide food for fish and whales. Like garden snails, their earthbound relatives, pteropods build calcium carbonate shells. But pteropods–thin, fragile shells may be vulnerable to the ocean's changing chemistry. At WHOI, biologists Gareth Lawson and Amy Maas have championed pteropods, investigating how these beautiful creatures and key links in the food chain will be affected by ocean acidification, comparing pteropods in ocean regions with normal acidity and regions already showing acidification. Lawson also collaborated with sculptor Cornelia Kavanaugh, whose sculptures of pteropods were recently seen at the Smithsonian Institution.
Photo courtesy of Nancy Copley
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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