Some sea snails, like butterfly wings, spread their squidy appendages by frowning and spreading through the water – now, scientists have discovered that snail shells also help shape them into the ocean.
New study, Sept. 7. Published in Journal Frontiers in Marine Science, Shows that large snails with thin, elongated shells are cut by water faster than small snails with spherical, coiled shells. Small snails swim a little slower because of their wings, but their size and speed also make them so that they can’t easily overcome resistance from the surrounding water, study author David Murphy, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Florida, wrote in an email. Told by Live Science. “Large snails can easily overcome the effects of this viscosity,” or resist the flow of water, and streamlined shells can be cut more easily by cutting through water, he said.
The streamlined snail slides through the water just as the wing of an airplane works in the air.
Related: Oceanography: 7 strange facts about the ocean
Larger snails swim faster than smaller ones, all species of snails studied by the authors travel the same distance in search of food, According to a statement. The snail, which is about 0.03 to 0.5 inches (0.9 to 13.1 millimeters) in length, travels between 162 and 984 feet (50 to 300 meters) daily, swimming across the sky to feed on the surface at night and sinking down during rest. Day.
While swimming, the snail grows in a zig-zagging spiral, covering between one and 24 body lengths per second; When done for the night, they sink down at a slight angle, descending at the same speed. Large snails are submerged in water and thanks to their elongated shells.
Seven of the snail species included in the study are affectionately referred to as “sea butterflies” for their fluttering wings; During past research, Murphy and his colleagues discovered that sea butterflies flutter their wings in the same figure-eight pattern as the fruit flies and call the creatures “honorable insects.” Living science previously reported.
Murphy and his laboratory study animals that fly underwater and on both sides and they plan to create small aquatic and aerial vehicles inspired by different creatures, Murphy said. He said the vehicles could be used in “many different applications. For example, they could take data under the surface of the water and then return to the air to transfer the data.”
Published on Original Living Science.
