Thanks, Andrew. I know sponges are found in kitchens but I never thought of
them as food items. Would make one feel bloated, no?

Do we know whether Calliostoma might be eating something associated with
sponges?

And I've never come across the term dewatering. Does that mean these are
vents spewing gases that displace water?

Never heard of the 5-message limit before, either. Maybe this is something
new to head off some of the troubles from months past.

David Kirsh
Durham, NC

>
> They live in many habitats, including mud at upper bathyal depths
> (say 600m+ for C. alertae). I have seem ROV images of C. foveauxanum
> on dewatering chimneys at 300m; the chimneys stick out of the sandy
> mud bottom. C. selectum lives on sandy bottoms midshelf. C.
> punctulatum and its near-identical sympatric
> C. granti live on intertidal rocks among mussels as well as on soft
> midshelf sediments.
>
> I believe they are sponge-eaters. So where there are sponges, there
> too should be Calliostoma.
> --
> Andrew Grebneff
> 165 Evans St, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand
> <[log in to unmask]>
> Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut