Indrella ampulla

Indrella ampulla

Today we meet yet another creature endemic to the Western Ghats-- Indrella ampulla.

It is the only species within its genus, but it comes in all sorts of different colors and varieties. Yellow is a very common body color, but it can be bright red, black and white as well. The shell is dark in color, normally contains three whorls, and typically meaures no more than 2in in diameter.

Indrella ampulla lives in mountainous rainforests. There, they feed on different Fungi varieties, using their radula that contain more than 100 rows of tiny teeth!

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IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : India
Size : Shell width up to 2in (6cm)

Classification : Phylum : Mollusca -- Class : Gastropoda
Family : Ariophantidae -- Genus : Indrella -- Species : I. ampulla
Image :  NHM

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Limax maximus

Limax maximus

Meet Limax maximus, also known as the Leopard Slug. These Gastropods are some of the largets Slugs int he world, and can grow up to 8in long.

It is pretty easy to see where these Slugs got their feline-inspired common name. They have brown bodies that are covered with darker, leopard-like spots. There are actually several different color types, ranging from very pale, to red, to dark, but all have the spots.

Limax maximus originally hailed from Europe and possibly western Africa. However, they have spread very far from home and are now common in North America, South America, and even New Zealand.

You'll find these slugs near humans-- they like to eat trash and other decaying matter, and they normally feed at night. Unfortunately, they also like to feast on young living plants as well, which is why they are considered an invasive pest in the United States, where they feed on crops.

Like all slugs, Limax maximus individuals are hermaphrodites. When they mate, two slugs will circle each other (sometimes for hours and hours) and then eventually climb a tree. The pair will then dangle from the tree by a thick strand a mucus, and it is then that they trade sperm with each other. Each slug will then go on to lay its own eggs.

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IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Europe
Size : Body Length up to 8in (20cm)
Classification : Phylum : Mollusca -- Class : Gastropoda -- Superfamily : Limacoidea
Family : Limacidae -- Genus : Limax-- Species : L. maximus
Image : max0rz

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Seven-arm Octopus

Haliphron atlanticus

The Seven-arm Octopus has a misleading name. They do actually have eight arms, like all Octopuses do, it's just that one of the arms (the hectocotylus, used for egg fertilization) is often curled up on the males' bodies, making it difficult to see. Females of the species do that have that issue.

Seven-arm Octopuses live in both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. It was believed to live only in the former until about fifteen years ago, when one was caught off the coast of New Zealand. Interestingly, these creatures have also been found at both the sea floor AND near the surface, which is unusual for Octopuses.

The species is also notable because they are quite large. In fact, they are the largest Octopuses in the world, and can measure over 11ft in length!

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IUCN Status : Not Listed
Location : Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
Size : Length up to 11ft (3.5m)
Classification : Phylum : Mollusca -- Class : Cephalopoda -- Order : Octopoda
Family : Alloposidae -- Genus : Haliphron -- Species : H. atlanticus
Images : RL Hudson

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Ammonite

Ammonite Model

Ammonite Fossil

Today we are going to talk about an entire Subclass of animals known as Ammonites. These shelled sea creatures lived for millions of years before going extinct along with the Dinosaurs during the late Cretaceous.

Between 240 and 65 million years ago, Ammonites could be found throughout the Oceans of the World. They ranged in size, depending on species, with the largest having shells that could grow as large as 1m in diameter. Ammonite fossils are more abundant than those of just about any other creature, since they lived for so many years and in so many places.

Ammonites lived in schools and hunted smaller sea creatures. They consumed their prey through a beak-like mouth hidden among its tentacles.

Ammonites most likely moved around by shooting water from spouts in their bodies. Their actual lifestyle is pretty speculative though, because unlike other prehistoric invertebrates (like Nautelids), the Ammonites have no living relatives.

A final fun fact to start the weekend? The name Ammonite comes from "Amun," an Egyptian god who was frequently depicted wearing spiraled horns (similar to the shell pattern).

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Status : Extinct for 65 million years
Location : Oceans worldwide
Size : Varies, up to 1m in shell diameter

Classification : Phylum : Mollusca -- Class : Cephalopoda -- Subclass : †Ammonoidea
Images : Lmbuga Commons , Rept0n1x

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