"Flying" Sea Snail

A tiny species of sea snail "flies" underwater using movements just like winged insects, a study has found.

16:27 19 February 2016

US scientists have found that a tiny species of sea snail perform movements that make them appear like they're flying just like winged inserts.

 

The so-called sea butterflies were observed using high-speed video and flow-tracking systems.

 

The aquatic snails flap their wing structures and use some of the vortex-making tricks that keep insects in the air.

 

Dr David Murphy, a mechanical engineer at Johns Hopkins University, said: "It looks like it's flying, like a very small insect."

 

The researchers added that the insect-like acrobatics are "a remarkable example of convergent evolution." In other words, the same trait has evolved more than once in completely independent lineages.

 

Meanwhile, Dr Murphy added: "Almost all zooplankton use their swimming appendages like paddles,"

 

"I was pretty sure that the sea butterfly was going to do something similar. But I was really surprised - it turns out to be more of an honorary insect."

 

Explaining how the experiment was carried out, Dr Murphy said: "Using our four cameras, we make a 3D measurement of the flow that the animal produces as it's swimming,"

 

"The 'aha' moment came when I'd spent a few months tracking the wing tips, relative to the body.

 

"I was putting all of this information into my code and finally it came out with this plot - and I saw this beautiful figure-of-eight pattern, which I immediately recognised as something more like what a fruit fly does."