They charted the efficiency and flexibility with which giant Pacific octopuses switch strategies to open different shellfish — smashing thin mussels, prying open clams, drilling tougher - shelled clams with their rasplike
radulae.
Their appearance notwithstanding, cone snails are fearsome predators that immobilize their prey with a poison - tipped
radula, a tooth - like ribbon made out of hard chitin that can be launched with the force of a spear.
Underneath (right), the creature had a snaillike foot for locomotion and a mouth whose rasplike
radula was covered with at least 125 rows of tiny teeth.
Limpets in the rocky intertidal typically feed on bacteria, scraping them off rocks with their «toothpick - like»
radulas.