Flamingo Tongue

• Common Name: Flamingo Tongue Cowrie

• Scientific Name: Cyphoma gibbosum

• Adaptations: At damn activity levels increase as the sun rises. During the day flamingo tongues actively graze on their host gorgonian, where spawning also occurs. When dusk arrives, activity levels decrease as the sun sets. During the night flamingo tongues are inactive and rest on their host gorgonian overnight. 

• Habitat: found throughout the shallow waters of the Caribbean. Often found in the back reef, fore reef and drop-off zones. They live 2-14 meters down in the ocean. Their favorite place to be is almost exclusively on the animals they use as food. Sea fans, sea whips, and other gorgonians are multiple sources of food. They occasionally cross open sand in search of new habitat.

• Interesting Facts: each transparent flamingo tongue egg capsule can contain up to 300 tiny white embryos, which give them a speckled appearance when examined closely. Also the vibrant and beautiful colors of the flamingo tongue give predators the appearance that it tastes bad. 

• I chose this organism because it has a very interesting appearance. It is a beautiful mollusk that has an abundant cool facts about it.