This scaled wormsnail is the ultimate homebody.

It’ll stay right here stuck to  this rock for the rest of its life.

Its more adventurous cousins carry  their homes on their backs as they   explore this tide pool searching for food.

But this snail’s perfectly content  with a more sedentary lifestyle.

And if it needs some privacy, it can  always use its foot to shut the front door.

Bye!

That little shell fortress provides  protection and gives them a cozy spot   to wait out low tide, here  on the California coast.

When the tide comes in   and it’s feeling brave, it’ll reach out  with its tentacles and test the water, to sense which way the current is flowing.

All while keeping an eye out for trouble.

But being such an indoor enthusiast  comes with some drawbacks.

It can’t go out for food, so the  wormsnail needs to get creative.

It uses the one thing a  snail’s got plenty of … mucus.

Instead of just using that slimy stuff to  slide around like other snails and slugs, the wormsnail secretes thin,  nearly invisible strands of slime   that cling together and form a sticky trap.

From the safety of its tiny shell  tower, it casts its net into the sea.

Then the snail hauls in a bountiful catch  of tiny organisms carried by the currents,   along with yummy bits of kelp and  debris churned up by the waves.

See that?

That’s the snail’s radula -- a raspy belt of  hooked teeth that drags the net into the mouth.

Then it’s down the hatch … mucus net and all.

Mmm, mucus net.

A hungry wormsnail lets nothing go to waste.

It seems like it’s got this  quiet life all figured out.

But of course, that all depends on your neighbors.

If they’re too close you could get  your nets all tangled together.

Then it’s a full-on tug of war.

Neither one wants to lose  its fair share of the catch.

And if it can take home  some of its neighbor’s, too?

Hey, even better.

After all, it's every snail for itself.