Honorable Mention: Cowrie Eggs and Rainbow

The Thrush Cowrie (Naria turdus) is a marine gastropod native to the Indian Ocean which has recently been spreading throughout the Caribbean. It was first discovered in Florida just two years ago in 2022. Since then, this non-native species has rapidly multiplied in South Florida's waters and very little is known about its potential impacts. I have been observing the Thrush Cowrie population in the Southern Indian River Lagoon to understand its ecology here in Florida. I photographed a female Thrush Cowrie incubating eggs in an empty oyster shell in the mangroves of the Indian River Lagoon, Jupiter Island.