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The reputation of the movie "Nezha's Devil Boy Descending" exploded, in addition to the spirit of Nezha not accepting defeat and not admitting his life, the emotional line of "Lotus Cake CP" (Nezha and Ao Bing) also attracted much attention.
One of the scenes is when Ao Bing gives Nezha a conch symbolizing friendship, and as long as this snail is blown, he will come thousands of miles to meet. So some netizens found that the conch that Ao Bing gave to Nezha was a left-handed conch, indicating that such a snail is very precious.
So, what species is the "left-handed conch" that Ao Bing gave to Nezha? Is it really that rare?
01
What species is the L-Conch?
Many animals of the mollusk phylum Gastropoda have a feature that other animals do not have: their individuals undergo torsion during development, forming anatomical features that are asymmetrical to the left and right. Many gastropods have an exoskeleton, which is what we often call a snail, and the vast majority of snails have no symmetrical structure (the inner and outer bones of other animals are basically symmetrical from left to right), and most of them are spiral-shaped.
Since it is a spiral, there is a problem of the direction of the spiral. When we get a snail, we can observe the spiral, but the spiral is stationary, not rotating like a clock hand. So when we say the direction of rotation of a snail, we actually refer to the direction of the stationary spiral.
For the sake of description, a definition of the direction of the spiral is given: the rear end of the specimen (the top of the spiral tower) is pointed upwards, the snail opening is facing the observer himself, and if the opening of the snail is on the right side, the spiral direction is judged to be right-handed, and vice versa.
Eluo | the left figure is left-handed, and the right-hand figure is right-handed
There is no doubt that in nature, right-handed snails account for the absolute majority, but left-handed snails are not as rare as imagined. As long as you are careful, you can see the left-handed snail at any time. This point, as our Chinese, has unique conditions - among terrestrial shellfish, there is a family called the family Pipe Snail, and the snails in this family are almost all left-handed, and China is the main distribution of this family.
Pipe snails
02
What kind of rare conch did Ao Bing give to Nezha?
First of all, from the perspective of size, this snail basically has to be half the size of Nezha's head, and it is easier to guess understood this premise. Because there aren't many really big conchs.
Nezha was born in Chentangguan, which is generally believed to be in the area of present-day Tianjin (also known as Sichuan, Fujian and other places). Considering the identity of the third prince of the Dragon King of the East Sea of Ao Bing, we will first set the location in the Area of the East Sea.
On the coast of the East China Sea, Charoniasauliae is basically the largest conch available. The white snail is traditionally often used to do things, and it can also be used as a snail number. However, the normal shape of the white snail is right-handed, and only the deformed one is left-handed. If in such a situation, Ao Bing gave Nezha a left-handed white snail, it was indeed very rare.
Illustration of a specimen of a white snail
If the scope is expanded to southeast Asian waters and the Indian Ocean, then Turbinella pyrum can also be taken into account.
Illustration of a specimen of a holy snail in India
It occupies an important place in both Hinduism and Buddhism, known as "Shankha", and is used both as a religious vessel and as a snail. Shankha is also one of the eight auspicious blessings of Buddhism. In Tibet, conch trumpets made by Shankha are carefully decorated, and the surface of the shell is not only richly carved, but also embellished with metal and precious stones.
Shankha
If you put the scope in Indonesia and Australia, there is another kind of large snail called Syrinx aruanus. The Australian stub is large, the shell is thin, and the blowing echo is particularly good, which is very suitable for making a snail number.
Australian St. Conch Specimen
The normal shape of these three snails is right-handed, and if it is a left-handed snail that appears in these three snails, it is indeed very precious.
But in fact, the conch that most resembles the shape of the conch in the movie is a conch called Busycon contrarium. As the name suggests, the constant shape of this snail is left-handed. Although the picture looks white, the actual color is actually more yellow, which is very similar to the conch in the movie.
Schematic of a levo-e-snail specimen
However, it should be noted that the levo-e-conch is neither in the East China Sea nor in the South China Sea, but in the Caribbean Sea. Although completely absent from coastal areas of China, it is a common species in the Florida area of the United States.
That is to say, it may be that Ao Bing came back with a souvenir when he went to the Caribbean and gave it to Nezha. In a sense, it is also full of sincerity.
03
About the levo-snail, a topic outside of science
On the topic of "left screw", there are many rumors circulating, and the right and wrong are uneven, so it may be better to simply identify it:
1. There is a saying that "the left snail is particularly valuable": if you encounter someone who is willing to pay a large price for the left snail and regardless of the species, then you will get rich and go directly to the pipe snail. In fact, only when a species is right-handed and occasionally a left-handed specimen is found, this specimen will be more valuable.
2. It is said that "the left snail can bring good luck": the Indian holy snail, the white snail and other snails are often used as religious magic tools, and the larger the better. Both types of snails are right-handed, so if a rarer left-handed specimen is available, it will naturally appear more special "significance".
3. It is said that "left snails are poisonous": Indeed, some snail bites do cause poisoning in humans, such as in the family Taro snails, some snails are more toxic than snake venom, but their toxicity has nothing to do with the direction of spiraling, in fact, all snails are right-handed.
As for consumption, it is safe to say that the meat of all shelled mollusks is non-toxic, and the meat of some deadly taro snails is still edible.
At present, the occurrence of poisoning caused by the consumption of mollusks, the toxins are exogenous, so it is naturally not related to the direction of rotation.
But then again,
Whether the conch is "left-handed" or "right-handed"
If you can summon Ao Bing's snail, it must be a rare treasure snail!
Source | Popular science Anhui subscription number Figure from the network
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