類別

水下與海洋

參賽者

蘇俊育

作品名稱

海草上的翡翠寶石 Emerald on Sea Grass

科學圖說 Scientific introduction

翡翠蜑螺的食衣住行都和海草緊密相連。翠綠且點綴白斑的殼色，在海草床中是良好的保護色。海草的葉片除了提供隱蔽性良好的立體棲息空間，也提供充足的食物來源。其利用齒突上大而銳利的側齒，穿刺刮破海草的纖維表皮吸取汁液。檢視海草葉片，會看到翡翠蜑螺產下的半圓形果凍狀卵塊，半透明卵塊裡有一顆顆的卵。當卵發育至披面幼蟲期後，會突破卵鞘進行浮游生活，直到著苗在下一片海草葉，重新開始新的生活。

The survival of the emerald nerite Smaragdia rangiana is closely linked to  sea grass. Its shell is emerald green with white dots, which provides great camouflage in sea grass beds. Sea grass leaves supply shelters and food. Smaragdia rangiana uses large, sharp teeth of the radula to puncture and scrape the fibrous surface of the grass leaf and suck the juice. Examining the leaf, the sea snail has produced a semicircular, jelly-like egg mass; the eggs are visible within the semi-transparent mass. When the larvae are sufficiently developed, they break through the egg cases and drift away. Once they find another grass leaf, they settle down and begin their new life.