Banded Tulip Sea Snail

This lovely sea snail is called a banded tulip. Banded tulips use the thick lip of their shell to break a hole into their prey’s shell. Once a hole is created the banded tulip will insert its proboscis to eat its prey like oysters or clams. If you notice on top of the two long stalks you can see the snail’s eyes! Its eyes can be tucked in and protected by its operculum if threatened. 

Banded tulips are gastropods (stomach foot) belonging to the phylum mollusca meaning soft body. This banded tulip was found in one of our crab traps along an oyster bed and can be found in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, Florida, and all the way up the coast to North Carolina. Like conch or whelk, banded tulips can also be harvested for food. HOWEVER, this is one of the FEW living ones we’ve found on a tour so we suggest checking local populations of them before harvesting (pretty please)!