That's what littorines are great for: being found weeks later and still
being alive. I'm constantly running across old Littorina keenae and L.
scutulata individuals which have fallen into my pockets or bucket or boots
after a day of field work, and are perfectly responsive after being put in
seawater. We just got done deploying an experiment using L. keenae, which
required us to bring a few hundred into the lab for painting with (s)nail
polish. We put them back out in the field, and two weeks later when we were
moving furniture, I found a little blue-painted snail hiding under one of
the recliners, sealed up to minimize desiccation. It emerged from its shell
within minutes of being put in seawater. It's now happily living with its
other painted bretheren out on the rocks.

At 09:11 AM 3/17/2005, you wrote:


>Are there any other stories out there about
>molluscs that were collected and somehow
>managed to survive for a long time, or in
>adverse conditions, before being attended to?
>
>All the best!
>Ron Noseworthy
>

Luke Miller
Denny Lab http://www.stanford.edu/group/denny
Hopkins Marine Station
831-655-6208

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