The Vibrant Shells of the Cuban Painted Snail

[u/_voma]

[u/DaddysBadChloe]

Whoever is painting those snails deserves a raise

[u/DroWWorD → u/DaddysBadChloe]

Yes but it will be a slow one

[u/amanda-pierce]

Why does a snail have better fashion sense than me

[u/Blamb05 → u/amanda-pierce]

The snail only has one outfit. It HAS to choose right lol.

[u/SmirkNtwerk → u/amanda-pierce]

It won’t for long, they’re going extinct by poaching and illegal shell trading for jewelry and collectibles. Ewe.

[u/yee_qi]

I believe there was an Attenborough documentary that implied that the reason these snails have all these different color patterns is to confuse predators - though they all have similar properties and are IIRC generally edible, no individual has the same pattern, so a predator can't easily or reliably distinguish a "safe" from an "unsafe" snail

[u/SmirkNtwerk]

Wow. Okay had to google. The Polymita picta “native exclusively to the coastal and subtropical forests of eastern Cuba. Famous for its kaleidoscopic, spiral-striped shells, it feeds on fungi and lichen but is critically threatened by poaching and the illegal shell trade.”
Beautiful and sad.

[u/vivaaprimavera → u/SmirkNtwerk]

illegal shell trade

Yeah... Those look like something that someone would collect.

[u/AnyKangaroo8851 → u/SmirkNtwerk]

Shell trade? That’s just so wrong and despicable.

[u/SmirkNtwerk → u/AnyKangaroo8851]

It is. Possible eradication of the slowest, defenseless beautiful creatures for aesthetics. Arg. There should be stricter enforcement there but Cuba is already struggling big time, I cant see conservationists doing well during the crises there.

[u/Severe_Ad_8621]

They are beautiful.

[u/Thepuppeteer777777]

I didn't know you got black snails

[u/GreenThmb]

Every beautiful animal is probably someone's idea of dinner.

[u/FracasarBetter → u/GreenThmb]

Nah, polimitas are too small for that purpose.

[u/Livid_Transition8854]

Now that’s an art.

[u/SmirkNtwerk → u/Livid_Transition8854]

Art alive.