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Description
"Clade: Snailsquids (Ammonoidea)
Family: Mackerel Snailsquid (Placenticeratidae)
Scientific name: Halophiloceras lafayettei
Area of occurence: Five small salt lakes in midwestern New Texas
Size: Up to 0.5 meters long

Eons ago, the Western Interior Seaway began to shrink. As its shallow waters receded, they left behind isolated lakes and ponds, which promptly evaporated in the hot subtropical sun. But some remained, fed by rivers from the interior and drained by the cruel heat of the sun. With nowhere to go, the salt from the ancient sea remained, salinity increasing ever so slowly as the rivers washed dissolved rocks into the lakes. Soon, they were far too salty for anything to live in them except for brine flies and extremophile bacteria. Fish, squid, and reptiles bit the dust as the osmotic pressure eventually burst their cells, leaving behind a slew of empty puddles of saltwater.

Almost empty, that is. One species survived this gradual increase in salinity. Five isolated lakes, located in an unrelentingly hot valley in midwestern New Texas, are populated by quite possibly the most remarkable cephalopod in the world. The biggest of these lakes is known locally as the "Devil's Bathtub," and it is this lake that has lent its name to the Devil's Bathtub Snailsquid, an Ammonite expressly adapted to survive in extremely high levels of salinity.

How they manage this osmotic feat isn't clear; Its known that other Snailsquid around the world are quite tolerant of differences in salinity, far more so than other cephalopods. In any case, the Devil's Bathtub Snailsquid is quite unique; no other cephalopod comes close to matching its tolerance for high salinity levels. It is so specialized, in fact, that individuals exposed to normal seawater will die within minutes.

Though the transparent young feed on bacterial mats and brine shrimp, Devil's Bathtub Snailsquid eat nothing but brine flies as adults. The swarming green insects are ubiquitous around the lakeshores, feeding on the mats of similarly green halophilic bacteria that cover the rocks in sunlit waters. It is this strange green pigment of the bacteria that gives the Snailsquid its hue; the flies eat the bacteria, and the Snailsquid eat the flies, excreting the deep green into its own tissues. Everything about this creature is green, even its eggs and internal organs; It is thought that this pigment might have something to do with their uncanny tolerance for salt, though this is unverified.

Like all mollusks, Devil's Bathtub Snailsquid excrete a layer of Nacre into their shells which can coat the surface of an irritant to produce a shining pearl. Unlike other mollusks, however, this Snailsquid's nacre- and thus its pearls- is a deep forest green. Their rarity and unusual colour means that pearls from this animal are extraordinarily popular as jewellery. Only one in a hundred Snailsquid have a pearl in them at any time; of these, only one in a thousand is of any value. The enormous demand for Snailsquid pearls has resulted in tremendous overfishing, so that the Devil's Bathtub Snailsquid was driven to extinction in two of the lakes it inhabits and almost extirpated in the other three; Only concerted conservation efforts and the establishment of artificial pearl farms have managed to save this unique mollusk from the brink of extinction. Though they have been reintroduced to the other two lakes, they are still threatened, and it will be many years before their population is as high as it was in the past."

-From the Field Guide of Appalachian Wildlife by Lilian P.Sturmvögel

(made by Acinonyx Jubatus/Pterosaur-Freak)

Description
"Clade: Snailsquids (Ammonoidea)
Family: Mackerel Snailsquid (Placenticeratidae)
Scientific name: Halophiloceras lafayettei
Area of occurence: Five small salt lakes in midwestern New Texas
Size: Up to 0.5 meters long

Eons ago, the Western Interior Seaway began to shrink. As its shallow waters receded, they left behind isolated lakes and ponds, which promptly evaporated in the hot subtropical sun. But some remained, fed by rivers from the interior and drained by the cruel heat of the sun. With nowhere to go, the salt from the ancient sea remained, salinity increasing ever so slowly as the rivers washed dissolved rocks into the lakes. Soon, they were far too salty for anything to live in them except for brine flies and extremophile bacteria. Fish, squid, and reptiles bit the dust as the osmotic pressure eventually burst their cells, leaving behind a slew of empty puddles of saltwater.

Almost empty, that is. One species survived this gradual increase in salinity. Five isolated lakes, located in an unrelentingly hot valley in midwestern New Texas, are populated by quite possibly the most remarkable cephalopod in the world. The biggest of these lakes is known locally as the "Devil's Bathtub," and it is this lake that has lent its name to the Devil's Bathtub Snailsquid, an Ammonite expressly adapted to survive in extremely high levels of salinity.

How they manage this osmotic feat isn't clear; Its known that other Snailsquid around the world are quite tolerant of differences in salinity, far more so than other cephalopods. In any case, the Devil's Bathtub Snailsquid is quite unique; no other cephalopod comes close to matching its tolerance for high salinity levels. It is so specialized, in fact, that individuals exposed to normal seawater will die within minutes.

Though the transparent young feed on bacterial mats and brine shrimp, Devil's Bathtub Snailsquid eat nothing but brine flies as adults. The swarming green insects are ubiquitous around the lakeshores, feeding on the mats of similarly green halophilic bacteria that cover the rocks in sunlit waters. It is this strange green pigment of the bacteria that gives the Snailsquid its hue; the flies eat the bacteria, and the Snailsquid eat the flies, excreting the deep green into its own tissues. Everything about this creature is green, even its eggs and internal organs; It is thought that this pigment might have something to do with their uncanny tolerance for salt, though this is unverified.

Like all mollusks, Devil's Bathtub Snailsquid excrete a layer of Nacre into their shells which can coat the surface of an irritant to produce a shining pearl. Unlike other mollusks, however, this Snailsquid's nacre- and thus its pearls- is a deep forest green. Their rarity and unusual colour means that pearls from this animal are extraordinarily popular as jewellery. Only one in a hundred Snailsquid have a pearl in them at any time; of these, only one in a thousand is of any value. The enormous demand for Snailsquid pearls has resulted in tremendous overfishing, so that the Devil's Bathtub Snailsquid was driven to extinction in two of the lakes it inhabits and almost extirpated in the other three; Only concerted conservation efforts and the establishment of artificial pearl farms have managed to save this unique mollusk from the brink of extinction. Though they have been reintroduced to the other two lakes, they are still threatened, and it will be many years before their population is as high as it was in the past."

-From the Field Guide of Appalachian Wildlife by Lilian P.Sturmvögel

(made by Acinonyx Jubatus/Pterosaur-Freak)