From JAMSTEC: Scaly foot--a spiral gastropod clad in iron sulfide scales
Found only in an extremely limited region of hyrdothermal areas within the Indian Ocean, which is called "Kairei Field". As the name suggests, this creature is covered in rugged scales that protect it from predators. How it actually creates its iron sulfide scales, however, is not yet fully understood. A JAMSTEC research team succeeded in observing the creature in an onboard tank for the first time in February 2006. You can download my paper on this species for free here.
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That's a great photo. I love this snail. Has it been named yet?
Not as of yet
I SFG
I heart SFG
The coolest gastropod on the face of the planet. Hell, the coolest invertebrate ever.
A plate mail clad snail... Will they ever make it into the aquarium trade? I have a tank I've been meaning to fill up....
The little guy's adorable!!! That is just so amazing how it uses pyrite for pretection. Is it known what it eats? (Still reading paper, sorry if that was already mentioned!)
That's so cool! I can imagine there are fossilized forebears of this guy waiting to be discovered somewhere too. imagine those fossils!
In fact, I wonder if they have already been found but not recognized for what they are? Crazy.
I think this is a good competitor on your next Friday Deep Sea Picture:
http://rifters.com/real/2007/10/remedial-gigerology-part-2.html