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Comments
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Visit this species on the Encyclopedia of Life to find out more!
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Lifestyle
I am a gastropod. Most gastropods have a shell and a muscular foot which we use to move around. Snails and sea slugs are gastropods, too. I spend my days crawling around coral reefs. My shell is beautiful, totally reef bling! But it also protects me from predators; it's very strong and hard to break.
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Fun Facts
They call me the Giant triton because I am totally huge! Yep, I am one of the biggest snails in the reef --I can grow up to 2 feet long (61cm). I may look slow and harmless, but I am a fierce predator! I use my teeth to inject my prey with a poison in my spit. The poison stuns, or paralyzes, my prey so I can slowly eat them.
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Menu
I like to eat sea urchins and sea stars, but my favorite food is the Crown-of-Thorn Sea Star. Crown-of-Thorn Sea Stars love to eat coral and too many of them can destroy an entire reef! I eat them and make sure that their numbers don't get too big and this makes me very important to the reef. I only eat other animals, so I'm a carnivore.
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Threats
Many people think that my shell is one of the most beautiful in the world and because it gets big they really want to collect it and take it home. Some people will catch me to sell my shell in souvenir shops. But I should not be taken out of the reef, as I am very important to keeping a reef healthy.
Reefs are in danger, and that means so is my home!
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