Common Purple Sea Snail
Janthina janthina
A fragile violet shell that floats upside down on a raft of bubbles far out at sea and strands in mass drift events.
- Typical size
- 0.5–1.5 in
- How often it turns up
- Rare, then suddenly abundant
- Collecting
- Usually legal to collect
- Handling
- May irritate skin
The shells are safe. The man o' war they arrive with are not — do not touch blue floats or tentacles, even dried ones.
How to tell it apart
- Thin, brittle, bright violet
- Two-tone: paler above, deep purple below
- Often arrives with by-the-wind sailors and sargassum
Found one?
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