Black iron snail

A scaly foot sea snail from the Dragon Vent. The scales are covered with layers of pure pyrite and iron sulphide.

A right-handed snail-snake

Snail asymmetry has driven the evolution of a unique asymmetry in snakes [and], as Darwin would have predicted, the snakes also appear to be driving snail evolution.

-- Sean B. Carroll reports on findings by Takahiro Asami, Masaki Hoso and Michio Hori.

Nature's euphonium

Fig 1. Opisthostoma vermiculum, one of the bizarre species new to science promoted by the International Institute for Species Exploration.

The shell is unique because of the way it twists. Most snail shells coil tightly, following a logarithmic spiral. They also coil around no more than three axes.

The shell of O. vermiculum, however, coils around four axes – the most for any known gastropod. The whorls, meanwhile, detach three times and reattach themselves, twice, to preceding whorls. O. vermiculum appears to be restricted to a single region of limestone karst geography: Gunung Rapat, in Perak, Malaysia.

Actually, it looks more like an Ophicleide or a Serpent.

Cheerful asymmetry

Look at yourself in the mirror. You're probably mostly symmetrical: one eye and one ear on each side of your head, features that are at least roughly even, and any lopsidedness is most likely due to postnatal wear and tear.

Deep inside you, though, you are profoundly asymmetrical, and that asymmetry is essential for your well-being.

And you share this with snails! P Z Myers explains.