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Violet-colored Sea Snails, Janthina janthina, Wash up on SoCal Beaches

NHM's Jann Vendetti discusses the ocean-dwelling purple colored snails that washed up on Southern California beaches in July 2025.

Purple and white swirled shells next to a head and shoulders portrait of Jann Vendetti wearing a brown vest

Most people think about snails living on rocks on land. But many are pelagic (they live in the open sea), which is why it was so surprising when many ocean-dwelling purple colored snails, 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘫𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢, washed up on several Southern California beaches in July 2025.

It was also rare to see the shells of this purple snail on the beach because it lives in tropical waters, where the sea temperature is much warmer than in coastal California. But these tiny thumb to pinky-sized snails are drifters, so they could have arrived here on a warm pocket of water.

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