"Discovering the Margarita Snail: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett's Legacy"
Scientists have discovered two new species of snails, known as margarita snails, in the Florida Keys and Belize. These snails have permanently cemented shells and feed by laying out mucus webs to trap plankton and detritus. Initially thought to be the same species, DNA sequencing revealed significant differences between the two snails. The Florida Keys snail has been named Cayo margarita, while the snail in Belize is called Cayo galbinus. The vibrant yellow color of these snails may serve as a warning to potential predators, as they produce defensive metabolites in their mucus.