About Cyphoma gibbosum (Linnaeus, 1758)
When alive, Cyphoma gibbosum, commonly called the flamingo tongue snail, appears bright orange-yellow with black markings. These colors come from the live mantle tissue that normally covers the shell, not from the shell itself. The snail can retract its mantle flaps to expose the shell, and this usually only occurs when the animal is attacked. On average, adult shells reach 25–35 mm (0.98–1.38 in) in length, with a recorded minimum size of 18 mm (0.71 in) and a recorded maximum shell length of 45 mm (1.8 in). Shells are typically elongated, with a thick transverse ridge running across the dorsum. The surface of the dorsum is smooth and shiny, and can be white or orange. It has no markings other than a longitudinal white or cream band. The base and interior of the shell are white or pinkish, and the aperture is wide. This species is the most common of several species in the genus Cyphoma. It lives in tropical western Atlantic Ocean waters, ranging from North Carolina to the northern coast of Brazil. Its range also includes waters off Bermuda, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and waters off the Lesser Antilles. The minimum recorded depth for this species is 0.3 m, and the maximum recorded depth is 90 m; depth records also note a minimum at the surface and maximum of 29 m. The flamingo tongue snail feeds by browsing on the living tissues of the soft corals that it inhabits. Its common prey species include Briareum spp., Gorgonia spp., Plexaura spp., and Plexaurella spp. Adult female C. gibbosum attach their eggs to coral that they have recently fed on. Larvae hatch after approximately 10 days; they are planktonic, and eventually settle onto other gorgonian corals. Juveniles usually stay on the underside of coral branches, while adults are much more visible and mobile. Adults use their radula to scrape coral polyps off the coral, leaving a clearly visible feeding scar on the coral. However, corals can regrow the lost polyps, so predation by this snail is generally not lethal to the coral.
