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The scaly-foot snail is remarkably robust due to its iron-composed scales.(Image credit: HKUST)ShareShare by:
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Name: Scaly-foot snail (Chrysomallon squamiferum)
Habitat: Hydrothermal vents inhabiting the Indian Ocean’s seafloor
Diet: As an adult, it doesn’t! The snail’s complete nutritional intake is manufactured from within, through endosymbiotic bacteria — microbes populating the snail’s digestive system.
The scaly-foot snail, sometimes known as the volcano snail, exhibits a trait unique amongst gastropods: a layer of safeguarding armor encompassing its foot, crafted from numerous overlapping scales enriched with iron. It reinforces these protective plates with minerals procured from the heated liquid discharged by hydrothermal vents and black smoker chimneys found on the Indian Ocean floor, where water can soar to temperatures reaching 752 degrees Fahrenheit (400 degrees Celsius).
Within the snail’s scales, sulfur and iron ions interact, leading to the creation of iron sulfide nanoparticles. Complementing the snail’s defenses is an exterior coating of iron sulfide on its shell, marking it as the sole multicellular creature known to reinforce its structure with iron. When the National Museum of Wales procured a set of specimens in 2015, caretakers were advised against using any water within the conservation fluid, as this would initiate rusting in the snails.
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Beneath this armor, the scaly-foot snail has a sizable heart — the largest in the Animal Kingdom when scaled to its overall dimensions — constituting roughly 4% of its total bodily volume. In aquatic environments with minimal oxygen saturation, this substantial heart also delivers oxygen to the symbiotic bacteria residing within the snail’s esophageal gland, functioning as an intrinsic food manufacturing facility. The snails, which average about 2 inches (5 centimeters) in shell dimension, are sometimes referred to as “sea pangolins” because they visually resemble the armor-clad land mammal.
Individuals possess both male and female reproductive structures. They traverse the seabed at profound depths, around 1.7 miles (2,780 meters), and are known to exist solely within three hydrothermal vent regions situated to the east of Mauritius, an island just off Africa’s southeastern shoreline.
Scaly-foot snails also hold the distinction of possessing the biggest hearts, in relation to body size, of any identified animal across the globe. RELATED STORIES
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Even though the snail’s likely habitat sums up to approximately 0.1 square miles (0.3 square kilometers), their recognized range presently spans a mere 0.008 square miles (0.02 sq km). Even this minuscule fragment of the deep sea is increasingly imperiled for the snails, resulting from human intervention.
In 2019, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) formally listed the scaly-foot snails on its Red List, designating life at risk of becoming extinct. The snails became the initial animal classified as “endangered” attributable to dangers impacting two of its three habitation areas due to deep sea mining.
TOPICSamazing animals
Mindy WeisbergerSocial Links NavigationLive Science Contributor
Mindy Weisberger is a science journalist and author of “Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control” (Hopkins Press). She formerly edited for Scholastic and was a channel editor and senior writer for Live Science. She has reported on general science, covering climate change, paleontology, biology and space. Mindy studied film at Columbia University; prior to LS, she produced, wrote and directed media for the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. Her videos about dinosaurs, astrophysics, biodiversity and evolution appear in museums and science centers worldwide, earning awards such as the CINE Golden Eagle and the Communicator Award of Excellence. Her writing has also appeared in Scientific American, The Washington Post, How It Works Magazine and CNN.
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