Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Calliostoma javanicum.



To be honest, I don't know much about them. I wasn't able to find a common name (it may not have one), but it is a sea snail hailing from C. America. But I do really lik their shells -- it's one of those things that seems like if a child drew it, you'd think, 'oh that's really organized, not likely to be found in the real waters.' But as you know now, you'd be wrong.

One thing worth noting, generally, about animals that build shells, is that studies in biomimicry turn to these types of animals to try to solve human problems. For example, each species precisely places calcium particles to build its shell, and understanding the chemical process could be helpful in cleaning large pipelines. If certain chemicals, for example, can build certain contained structures of calcium buildup, people can save millions of dollars a year in not needing to maintain pipes as often as they do today.

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