Originally, I come from Asian waters, including the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, but I’ve been getting around, making my presence known. Hey, it only took 10-20 years after I put my foot down in the Black Sea to wipe out a lot of the shellfish there. No pesky predators to bother us! We have had to cut back a bit so we don’t eat ourselves completely out of food.

Wutta a place, the Chesapeake! Well, heh heh, I didn’t walk there, even if I am quick on my foot. When our egg masses hatch, the young lads and lasses spend time as tiny zooplankton floatin’ in the water. Sometimes they get sucked up with ballast water used to stabilize ships, and off they go! Never send a postcard when they arrive, either. But I understand there are other U.S. coastal areas with the right salinity, plenty of hard surfaces for our juveniles to play on, and a temperature range that’d make you smile, so we’re hoping to spread out a bit.

You must be talkin’ about my radula. It’s this ribbon-like structure, like a tongue, but with rows of teeth. When I’m a hungry juvenile, I use it to drill holes in shells of young oysters and clams, so I can eat the soft, yummy bodies inside. As an adult, I grab a clam with my foot and either chip away at the shell edges with my radula so I can apply a little textradoxin to paralyze the tissues inside, or if I'm feeling patient, I play a waiting game and hold that clam until it suffocates. Either way, that baby is mine! Zip! I use my radula to cut the muscles holding the shell together and tear out the flesh.  Dinner is served!