Inwater Research Group biologists found a Giant Eastern Murex attached to a small green sea turtle’s back last week.(Photo: Screenshot)
Florida researchers recently found a green sea turtle with an unwanted guest<span style="color: Red;">*</span>hitching a free ride on its back.
Biologists at<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Inwater Research Group based in<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Jensen, Fla., found the sea turtle with a giant eastern murex attached to its<span style="color: Red;">*</span>back last week,
the group said in a Facebook post.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
The group posted a photo of the small turtle on Facebook Tuesday,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and said while it is not uncommon to see organisms living on turtle’s bodies;<span style="color: Red;">*</span>this case is unusual.
“Imagine a full-grown man carrying a twenty-pound backpack everywhere he went, and that's pretty much this turtle's story,” the group said in a statement.
Giant eastern murex are<span style="color: Red;">*</span>common in Florida and typically feed on clams and oysters, which “they reach by drilling through their shells with their radula (tongue-like body part),” the group said on Facebook.
FACEBOOK
Inwater Research Group added a new photo. - Inwater Research Group | Facebook
The murex was safely removed from the turtle’s shell and both were<span style="color: Red;">*</span>returned both to the ocean.
"We hope they will go their own ways,” the group said.
Follow @MaryBowerman on Twitter.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>
Powered By WizardRSS.com |
Full Text RSS Feed
