Western Bluebird

When you look at this carrier shell, you see a façade. You see a species hiding its true form for survival. As if putting on a mask, the carrier shell uses whatever is around it to blend into its environment and look like anything other than itself. In this way, the carrier shell exemplifies conformity. Through its camouflaging practices, the carrier shell both conforms and hides itself to prevent detection from the dangers surrounding.

The carrier shell is a gastropod from the taxonomic family, Xenophoridae. This name, Xenophoridae, is Latin, meaning “foreign carrying”, relating to its practice of attaching shells, coral, rocks, and any other objects found suitable in the Xenophoridae’s environment. The sea snail attaches these objects to its shell via a calcium carbonate secreted from the mantle, the inner layer of the shell. As objects are added, the shell grows, and so does its story of disguise.

This practice subsequently creates a story upon the carrier shell, which serves as a representation of where this shell is from and the species it is surrounded by. Forming a façade, the carrier shell hides within itself, distracting others from itself through the artifacts it masks itself with.