In this week’s episode, we shell-ebrate National Seashell Day with wild facts about ancient mollusks, self-repairing shells, and snail venom that is stronger than morphine! Also, in honour of Pride Month, we dive into the fabulous world of gender-bending fish, same-sex parents, and flatworms that duel with their junk. It’s science all in the name of science!
References:
Cohen, P. A., & Knoll, A. H. (2012). Scale microfossils from the mid-Neoproterozoic Fifteenmile Group, Yukon Territory. Journal of Paleontology, 86(5), 775–800. doi:10.1666/11-138.1
Macdonald, F.A. and Roots, C.F., 2010. Upper Fifteenmile Group in the Ogilvie Mountains and correlations of early Neoproterozoic strata in the northern Cordillera. In: Yukon Exploration and Geology 2009, K.E. MacFarlane, L.H. Weston and L.R. Blackburn (eds.), Yukon Geological Survey, p. 237-252.
Wikipedia contributors. (2025, June 4). Pseudodon shell DUB1006-fL. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudodon_shell_DUB1006-fL
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. (n.d.). How are seashells made? – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. https://www.whoi.edu/know-your-ocean/did-you-know/how-are-seashells-made/
Sawyer, A. (2020, June 20). No two shells are the same. BioTechniques. https://www.biotechniques.com/molecular-biology/no-two-shells-are-the-same/
Science in School. (2022, December 15). Opening seashells to reveal climate secrets – Science in School. https://www.scienceinschool.org/article/2016/opening-seashells-reveal-climate-secrets/
Scales, H. (2023, May 29). Discovered in the deep: the snail with iron armour. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/03/discovered-in-the-deep-the-snail-with-iron-armour
Wikipedia contributors. (2025b, June 9). Cone snail. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_snail
Wikipedia contributors. (2025a, May 21). Ming (clam). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_(clam)
Wikipedia contributors. (2025c, June 8). Clownfish. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clownfish
Wikipedia contributors. (2025b, June 2). Sequential hermaphroditism. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequential_hermaphroditism
Wikipedia contributors. (2025a, May 8). Parrotfish. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrotfish
Wikipedia contributors. (2025c, May 22). Humphead wrasse. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humphead_wrasse
Wikipedia contributors. (2025g, June 8). Crepidula fornicata. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crepidula_fornicata
Taylor, D. S. (2012). Twenty-Four Years in the Mud: What Have We Learned About the Natural History and Ecology of the Mangrove Rivulus, Kryptolebias marmoratus? Integrative and Comparative Biology, 52(6), 724–736. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/ics062
Staff, T. (2023, August 30). Cleaner Shrimp: The Cleaners of the Sea! – Tynemouth Aquarium. Tynemouth Aquarium. https://www.tynemouthaquarium.co.uk/blog/animal-stories/cleaner-shrimp-the-cleaners-of-the-sea/
Wikipedia contributors. (2025i, June 10). Penis fencing. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penis_fencing
Vagelli, A. (1999). The reproductive biology and early ontogeny of the mouthbrooding Banggai cardinalfish, Pterapogon kauderni (Perciformes, Apogonidae). Environmental Biology of Fishes, 56(1–2), 79–92. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1007514625811
Coast Files Podcast 