Flamingo Tongue

Grand Turk dive sites are filled with gorgonians and sea fans that are home to, and food for, the colorful snail called a Flamingo Tongue. Extended over its shell is a skin, called a mantle, that is not only colorful but also acts as its gills. The Flamingo Tongue holds onto the gorgonian with a short leathery pad or foot and drags itself slowly to feed on the polyps that make up the gorgonian. Their scientific name is Gastropoda (stomach foot) Prosobranchia (forward gill).