Sea Snail

Biologists have studied the connection of a deep-sea snail in the iron armor with bacteria

(ORDO NEWS) — The gastropod Chrysomallon squamiferum, found on the bottom of the Indian Ocean near black smokers, is sometimes referred to as the “iron snail”. And deservedly so: its shell is indeed composed of iron sulfide. The armored mollusk “feeds” on hydrogen sulfide, but for this it needs special bacteria. In the new work, scientists learned how this symbiosis works and where the “iron snail” takes such microorganisms from.…