These tiny Doto specimens and others were found by Christina Sylvester when she examined pieces of plastic flotsam that were washing in on Kwajalein's windward beaches, discovering not only a new species for the Marshalls but also a new habitat. The several different pieces of plastic had growths of bryozoans and hydroids from floating for some time in the ocean. Given a chance, life can sprout up just about anywhere.
The photo below shows one specimen with some black pigment (next to the shell) and another all white one that is harder to see on the left side of the whitish bryozoan patch at the bottom of the photo.
The plastic fuel cap below was one of the items that hosted a couple of Dotos and an egg mass. Who would have guessed?
Created 20 March 2017