What is this?

At the Zoological State Collection in Munich, Enrico Schwabe loves studying fascinating animals…and there are plenty of them!

Did you know…
Some sea creatures have a house made of limestone? Some dig burrows. Others hide or bury themselves. But there’s one animal that does something so strange, scientists are still puzzled as to why.

This mysterious creature lives on the ocean floor. And what does it do there?

It collects.
Coral fragments, shells, pebbles, even small chunks of the seafloor. It picks them up and sticks them onto itself – almost like decorating itself with jewelry!

Some do this by neatly gluing the objects it finds into spiral shapes. Others just stick things on randomly. And some even seem to have preferences – one type collects only whole shells and always attaches them with the inside facing up!

Why would an animal do that? Nobody knows for sure. But there are many theories.

One idea is that this “decoration” helps it to hide. With all that stuff on its back, the animal looks like a piece of rock or coral. In shallow water, this might protect it from predators. But here’s the catch: some of these animals live deep down in the dark sea – where camouflage doesn’t really help.

Maybe the added weight keeps it from being swept away by strong currents. Or perhaps the objects sticking out act like snowshoes that keep the animal from sinking into the soft seafloor.

So what is this animal anyway?

It’s not a crab. Not a fish. Not an octopus. [but we’re getting close!]
It’s a snail.
These creatures have been collecting in exactly the same way for over two million years! So, it’s no coincidence – it’s a truly successful trick of nature.

Here is a very special sea snail called Xenophora – which means “the one that carries foreign things.” In English it’s called a “Carrier Snail”. Today, we know of about 16 different species.

These strange snails can even help science. Because they love to collect, they often carry around rare shells and corals. This has led researchers to discover new species – some completely unknown until now. And some corals have been found in places where they had never been seen before. All thanks to these diligent collectors.

These snails have turned collecting into an art form. Their strange shell is part camouflage, part diary, part mystery.

So, next time you find a snail on the beach – take a closer look. You might have just discovered the ocean’s most mysterious collector.