Left-handed Whelk 7-8" organ the ivory bush coral builds

the ivory bush coral builds a skeleton of calcium carbonate – a compound that will become increasingly more rare as the ocean acidifies (a phenomenon caused by the ocean’s absorption of acidic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere)

increasing its diameter size by as much as three times

Sea Fan (18”) on a Mushroom Coral Base (6”)

The Organ Red Pipe coral (Tubipora musica) is native to the waters of the Indian ocean and the central and western regions of the Pacific ocean

Belonging to the family Asteriidae

Left-handed Whelk 7-8" organ the ivory bush coral buildsThe Lightning Whelk, Sinistrofulgur sinistrum (Hollister, 1958), is one of the local molluscan celebrities, not only because of its large size, but also thanks to very special features that make this species truly remarkable. For instance, unlike most gastropods, which are right handed, the Lightning Whelk has a left handed shell (shell opening to the right with shell spire pointing up). Abnormally right handed Lightning Whelks are very uncommon, but