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Bulla occidentalis A. Adams, 1850 Western Striate Bubble And Fireworm Preadator |
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| During a late afternoon dive in the Lake Worth Lagoon near Peanut Island, Palm Beach County, Florida on June 7, 2010, Anne DuPont (Delray Beach) photographically chronicled a "Red-Tipped Fireworm" Chloeia viridis Schmarda, 1861 (class polychaeta) capturing and devouring a living Bulla occidentalis. The annotated sequence of events is presented below and on the linked pages which contain a much higher resolution image. The comments are provided by the photographer. | |
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| 4:51:33 PM: Right after we entered the water, I came upon this fireworm, Chloeia viridis, entering a Bulla occidentalis. | 4:51:40 PM: The fireworm voraciously consuming the animal (first course) |
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| 4:52:17 PM: Still gulping down its meal (second course – same as the first) | 4:53:22 PM: I’m not sure what the worm was doing here but it appeared to be turning the shell before continuing to eat. |
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4:56:44 PM: Getting the last morsel! I was amazed at how far the worm can get its head into the shell. |
5:03:58 PM: The worm crawled away leaving the empty shell. It took about 12 minutes for the fireworm to consume the snail |
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