Giant Triton Sea Snail

[Utar]

I had never heard of this species of snail until now. Wow these snails can grow up to 2 feet, now that's a big snail.

Giant Triton Sea Snail is very beneficial to reef development because they eat the Crown-of-thorn starfish which eats coral. The article states that the pest Crown-of-thorn starfish is responsible for destroying coral reefs. The shells of the Triton Sea Snail are very collectible and sold in gift shops, which endangers this beneficial snail's population. Which in turn allows the Crown-of-thorn starfish's population to grow, which is bad for coral reef growth.

It asks in the article to help protect the Giant Triton Sea Snail from being wiped out due to harvesting of their shells.
Link to the webpage.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Yes, absolutely insane how big these guy get! It can also go over the spiky ‘thorn’ of a starfish, with no issue, very cool.

It is also super sad they are being harvested for their shells, similar to conch snails.

 

[Colin_T]

The article states that the pest Crown-of-thorn starfish is responsible for destroying coral reefs.

The crown of thorns starfish is a natural predator of live corals and under normal conditions does not wipe out large areas of reef. However, due to people clearing the forests and using the land for grazing or crops like sugar cane, more starfish young are surviving and their numbers are increasing exponentially.

The Great Barrier Reef is located along the east coast of Australia and most of it is in cyclone habitat. So when the land is cleared of trees and native plants, the top soil gets blown and washed away when it is windy or rains a lot. The top soil and nutrients end up in rivers that flow into the ocean and this causes algal blooms, which feed the baby starfish.

Subsequently, humans clearing the land have allowed fertilisers to wash into rivers and work their way into the ocean. This is causing the starfish population to grow beyond a point that the triton snails can control them. Add shell collectors and it's a double whammy for the corals who get eaten by the starfish, and the corals die from the nutrients in the water that washes off the land.

The corals are also dying from the heat caused by climate change and about 20% of the Great Barrier Reef bleached last summer due to high temperatures. This is the third year in a row where large areas of corals have bleached. If the corals bleach too many times, they die.