Although sea angels might look Christmassy and angelic, these tiny animals hide a deadly secret, says Mel Hobson.
What are sea angels?
Sea angels (Clione sp.) are a type of small, shell-less sea snail found in cold and temperate waters around the world. These little creatures grow to no more than 2cm long and tend to be found from the surface to depths of around 600 metres – although researchers at MBARI have seen these angelic critters at 1,805 metersdeep.
They’re named sea angels because of their tiny ‘wings’, which evolved from amuscular foot (like we would recognise in a land snail). Monterey Bay Aquarium shared a mesmerising video of a sea angel fluttering through the water.
“The rhythmic flapping of its wings propels the sea angel through the open ocean and gives it the appearance of flying,” says Monterey Bay Aquarium on its website. “While the graceful movements of this swimming snail may make it look like an angel, it's really a prowling predator.”
But when a sea angel finds its prey, it goes into attack mode. “It pushes out finger-like tentacles from its head that grab onto the prey, says Monterey Bay Aquarium, then “uses hook-like appendages to pull the prey out of its shell and into the sea angel’s gut. The whole process can take from two to 45 minutes.”
Discover more fascinating sea creatures
- Prettiest sea animals. Meet some of the most beautiful - and sparkliest - creatures in the ocean
- The deadliest sea creatures: Meet the most dangerous animals in the ocean
- Weirdest sea creatures - meet the strange sea creatures of the deep
- Why don’t deep-sea animals implode? Here's how they survive extreme pressures at the bottom of the ocean
