Tent Olive - El Salvador

Oliva porphyria - The tent olive is one of about 10 mollusk species within the Olividae family. The tent olive remains buried beneath a shallow layer of sand or mud during the day and emerges at night to begin the search for food. They use their powerful foot, an appendage large and strong enough to seize and drag their food source underneath the sand where it is then consumed. The tent olive ranges from 30 to 135 millimeters in length and is found from the Gulf of California to Peru.

- - - - -

El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. The first people to settle the region were the Pipils, also known as Cuzcatlecs. They established a loosely defined state known as Cuzcatlán, a confederation subdivided into city states and small chiefdoms. The Pipils were skilled in weaving cotton textiles and cultivated cacao, a commodity traded as far north as Teotihuacan. The Cuzcatlán state fell with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores in the early 16th century.

Queen Conch - Saint Lucia

In 1605, an English ship, the Olive Branch, was blown off course and made landfall on Saint Lucia. The crew, impressed with what they saw, considered establishing a permanent settlement. They were subjected to a fierce Carib attack and only 19 of the original 67 crew members managed to escape the island.

- - - - -

Lobatus gigas - The queen conch, a sea snail, is a member of the Strombidae family. It is the largest conch endemic to the tropical Northwestern Atlantic, growing to a shell length of approximately 35 centimeters. The queen conch, once believed to be carnivorous, is a specialized herbivore feeding primarily on macroalgae and unicellular algae. The queen conch prefers deeper water, up to 35 meters, but if necessary, it will venture into shallow waters to be near a steady supply of food. Over-harvesting has resulted in a population decline.

Burgundy Snail - France

The metric system was originally based on two French systems for measuring distance and weight: the mètre des Archives and the kilogramme des Archives. France adopted the metric system in 1799. The metric system is now used in every country in the world except Liberia, Myanmar, and the United States of America.

- - - - -

Helix pomatia - The Burgundy snail is a large land snail distributed throughout Europe and one of the leading snail species consumed by humans; as a food source it is referred to by its French name, “escargot.”  Water is essential to snails, but land snails are less confined in having to stay near a water source in comparison to marine snails. Land snails produce a thick layer of mucus to enable them to move easily across a rough surface. The mucus also serves as a protective shield against infectious elements picked up along the way.