Subject: Pink slug looking
Location: Southeast Florida
May 31, 2016 5:22 pm
What is this
Signature: Scared
Dear Scared,
These are the Eggs of an Apple Snail which we identified on Nature Time. According to the Apple Snail Website: “It is remarkable how visible the egg clutches of many apple snail species are. The pinkish to reddish eggs are attached on the contrasting green vegetation submerging from the water (in the genus Pomacea). This makes them visually inconspicuous from many meters away for predators. This suggests a possible warning function for unpalatability. Field evidence of this unpalatability is provided by the fact that almost all animals foraging in habitats where the apple snails live, ignore these eggs: from fish to birds, they all leave them alone. Also when apple snail eggs are offered to captive predators, they often try to eat them at first, but refuse them after repeated feeding.” According to My Florida Backyard: “Apple snails (family Ampullariidae) are freshwater snails that are able to survive both on water and on land. By laying their eggs above the water line, apple snails protect the eggs from predation by fish and other water dwellers.”