Mystery solved as huge carnivorous snail filmed laying an egg from its neck
The strange reproductive habits of a large, carnivorous New Zealand snail were shrouded in mystery - until now.
New shocking footage of the snail laying an egg from its neck has been filmed for the first time.
What looks like a tiny hen's egg is seen emerging from an opening below the head of the Powelliphanta augusta snail. The video was taken at a facility on the South Island 's West Coast.
Powelliphanta augusta are hermaphrodites, which explains how the creatures can reproduce when encased in a hard shell. The invertebrate uses a genital pore on the right side of its body to simultaneously exchange sperm with another snail.
The egg can take more than a year to hatch.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
3 days ago
- The Guardian
Three giant ‘doomsday fish' wash up in one week, but harbinger of calamity a damp squib, say experts
Bad luck comes in threes, according to the saying. And this week three ethereal oarfish, nicknamed 'the doomsday fish', have washed up on the shores of Australia and New Zealand. Two headless specimens were found near Dunedin and Christchurch on New Zealand's South Island, following the discovery of an oarfish on Tasmania's west coast on Monday. But scientists say there is no evidence of any link between oarfish sightings and imminent natural disaster. Earlier in the week, an oarfish was found near the small coastal settlement of Aramoana, north of Dunedin. Another, washed up on Thursday at a stony beach near Birdlings Flat, a 45-minute drive from Christchurch. Andrew Stewart, the curator of fishes at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, described the fish as 'beautiful' and 'otherworldly', with their 'purply-blue, silver and crimson' colours. The museum had investigated collecting one of these 'magnificent and ethereal-looking fish', but seagulls arrived first and demolished their heads. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter That was disappointing because heads contained a lot of key features, Stewart said, such as earbones, teeth and gill rakers. Otherwise, he said, 'when you've got an oarfish, you've got 8 metres in which every metre looks like every other metre – just rinse and repeat.' Stewart said there were about 20 confirmed records of oarfish sightings in New Zealand. Oarfish were probably the origin of sea serpent legends, he said. Although, there was little basis for their reputation as a harbinger of doom, given a peer-reviewed study in 2019 found no link between the appearance of oarfish and the arrival of earthquakes. A/Prof Nick Ling, a fish ecologist from the University of Waikato, said sightings of oarfish are relatively rare. 'They live in the open ocean at significant depths and people just don't encounter them. So because of that, they're almost impossible to study.' Oarfish, considered the longest bony fish in the world, hang vertically in the water and move by rippling their anal and dorsal fins, he said. 'They're really beautiful fish,' Ling said. 'It's an extraordinary kind of lifestyle, just kind of hanging there, vertical in mid-water, presumably waiting for your food to happen along.'
The Guardian
6 days ago
- The Guardian
Aurora australis: southern lights dazzle across New Zealand and Australia's east coast
People photograph aurora australis, also known as the southern lights, on the horizon over Lake Ellesmere on the outskirts of Christchurch on 1 June. The displays are produced by a geomagnetic storm, and a product of the sun launching charged particles towards Earth. When those particles interact with Earth's magnetic field they create stunning displays at the poles known as auroras. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images The Milky Way with the aurora australis, also known as the southern lights, over Lake Ellesmere on the outskirts of Christchurch. Photograph: Sanka Vidanagama/AFP/Getty Images A man takes photographs of aurora australis on the horizon over Lake Ellesmere in Lincoln on the outskirts of Christchurch. Photograph: Sanka Vidanagama/AFP/Getty Images The aurora australis over Lake Ellesmere, New Zealand. Photograph: Grant Birley People photograph the aurora australis on the horizon over Lake Ellesmere in Lincoln on the outskirts of Christchurch on 1 June. Photograph: Sanka Vidanagama/AFP/Getty Images The aurora australis seen from Gerringong, in NSW. Photograph: David Metcalf/DJM Images People observe the aurora australis, also known as the southern lights, over Lake Ellesmere on the outskirts of Christchurch. Photograph: Sanka Vidanagama/AFP/Getty Images The aurora australis glows on the horizon over the waters of Lake Ellesmere on the outskirts of Christchurch in New Zealand. Photograph: Sanka Vidanagama/AFP/Getty Images Paul Kerr was able to capture this stunning vista of the aurora australis from Canberra. Photograph: Paul Kerr/Hold Still Photography
The Independent
7 days ago
- The Independent
Bright green meteor zooms past Sydney as auroras dazzle across Australia
A bright green meteor was seen zooming past Sydney on Sunday as spectacular southern lights lit up the skies across most of Australia and New Zealand. A Sydney resident named Tom McCallister posted a video of the meteor, about the size of a basketball, traversing the city's skies. 'Absolutely magnificent meteor seen travelling east to west over Sydney this evening,' Mr McCallister captioned the video posted on Facebook. 'This was looking north at 17:57 local time.' Astrophysicist Brad Tucker, from the Australian National University, agreed that the object was indeed a meteor due to its unique blue-green colour, indicative of iron and nickel content. People across New Zealand and on Australia 's east coast were also treated to a dazzling display of southern lights on Sunday. Many skygazers later shared photos of aurora australis on social media. The space weather phenomenon is caused when bursts of charged particles released from the Sun – known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs – interact with the Earth's magnetic field, creating what's called a geomagnetic storm. The lights are called aurora australis in the southern hemisphere and aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere. Pictures posted on social media showed the sky glowing in hues of pink, red and green, with slight traces of yellow. The colours come from different molecules in the atmosphere getting charged by the Earth's magnetic field. Oxygen gives off a fluorescent green hue while nitrogen molecules interacting with the magnetic field generate a blue, red or pink shade. Auroras are seen when a strong solar storm from the Sun hits the Earth. They are more clearly visible around polar regions since the magnetic field is the strongest there. Astronomers have predicted a strong geomagnetic storm on Sunday and Monday after a powerful CME was seen erupting from the Sun on Friday. The latest CME also caused aurora borealis across most of the continental US as far down south as Alabama. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the possibility of a severe geomagnetic storm remained 'in effect'. 'There are indications that the coronal mass ejection passage is weakening, but the solar wind conditions remain elevated, therefore additional periods of G3-G4 levels remain possible,' the NOAA said, using the designations for strong and severe category storms. 'However, we now anticipate that conditions should weaken enough by tomorrow evening, 2 June, that G1 storm levels are the most likely peak response.' The Sun is currently at the peak of its 11-year activity cycle.
