Beach to beach

 A few months ago, I got an email from Brazil. It was a from a researcher who studies genetic patterns in gastropods (snails) and who was on the hunt for a few species from New England. He had collected the specimens he needed several years ago but lost them when Brazil's national museum (Museu Nacional) burned down in 2018. I remembered reading about the fire when it happened and thinking to myself that it would take years for science to recover from such a loss. Now, I was being presented with an opportunity to aid in that recovery, so I told the researcher I would help.

He gave me the name of the cove and the beach where he had collected the specimens originally. He described the habitat I should look for and told me to bring a sieve. The snails are tiny, so you really can't find them without one. I was excited for the adventure. My husband and I headed over to the cove, and I set to work.

We were there at high tide, so I set about snorkeling close to shore, keeping an eye on the habitats below. One by one, I turned over rocks to check for sponges on the underside (the snails are sponge predators), but I didn't see any. So I switched to the researcher's alternate suggestion, which was washing the algae through my sieve. I picked up a rock, turned it over so the algae were dangling at the surface of the water, and shook it into my sieve. Hundreds of tiny snails appeared instantly - they must have been hiding deep inside!

I had a lot of fun locating the tiny snails, and it was rewarding to know I could help another researcher. After a few quick photographs in my lab, the snails were on their way to Brazil along with my best wishes!

Snorkeling for snails

A few of the snails I collected. The marks on the 
scale bar are 1 mm apart.