Violet sea snail, Janthina janthina, is a holoplanktonic sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk of the family Epitoniidae, found drifting at the surface of warm oceans worldwide. It builds a raft of mucus-coated bubbles to keep its thin, delicate violet shell afloat, since it cannot swim, and it feeds on cnidarians such as the by-the-wind sailor that drift alongside it at the surface. It is also known by the common names common violet snail, large violet snail and purple storm snail.
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