Ball Moon Snail

Like other moon snails, the ball moon snail has the incredible ability to inflate its tissues with seawater to make its body several times larger. With its large, expanded body, this fierce predator can quickly glide over sandy surfaces and wrap itself around unsuspecting prey to suffocate them. If that fails, the ball moon snail still has another trick up its sleeve – to get to the prey’s flesh, this ferocious snail can excrete a special acid to make the prey’s shell soft enough to drill into!

While our moon snails are not endangered, they are commonly collected for the shell trade, which may lead to overharvesting if not monitored.