Mole Cowry

Image: TANAKA Juuyoh (田中十洋)
Talparia talpa

The Evil Eye...

IS OPENING!

Image: Chaloklum Diving

And it's shut again, Phew!

Image: bathyporeia

This bizarre creature is a snail called the Mole Cowry, also known by the far more appetising name, the Chocolate-banded Cowry. Can't you just imagine that smooth shell as crisp, crunchy chocolate surrounding soft, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate? Probably throw some caramel in there, too.

These shells can reach up to 10 cm (4 in) long, so it's a good amount of chocolate. Mole Cowries also occupy a huge range, being found from east Africa to India, through to Australia and on to Hawaii.

Image: mathieustewart

Mole Cowries are extremely variable. The shell can be almost yellow in colour and almost lack any stripes at all. The rest of the animal may be black with lots of spots, grey with lots of spots or just completely black with no spots.

One thing they all share, aside from all those weird finger things sticking out all over the place for whatever reason... seriously, I'm sure Lenny Kravitz had hair just like this at some point in his hairstyle career.

But aside from that, it's the incredibly smooth shell.

Image: Chaloklum Diving

You see, snails build their shells by secreting calcium carbonate from a structure known as the mantle. In most snails, the mantle is either partially or entirely covered by the shell. But not in cowries!

In cowries the mantle is huge, spills out of the shell and extends to such an extent that it can enclose most or even all of the shell!

It means the Mole Cowry can lower its mantle for the silky smooth chocolate stripes look, or raise it up for the glove-of-a-thousand-fingers look. It all depends on the dinner party.