The word “freak” is commonly used to refer to a person with a physical deformity or is afflicted with some kind of disfiguring disease or abnormal condition. “Freak” is also the word used to describe certain genetic mutations in plants and animals—so-called “freaks of nature.” The tendency to “freak out” is strong in mollusks. Nowhere is this more evident than in the way they form their shells. The Tonna galea of the extensive Tonnidae family of gastropods, possesses large, globose and low-spired shells that are rather thin and fragile. They come in all shades of brown. The Tonna galea lives in warm tropical seas and is carnivorous, feeding mainly on crustaceans and echinoderms (primarily spiny marine animals). It has a propensity to “break out,” a tendency to be different and individualistic.

Go, A. C. (2015, May 5). Beauty in the beast. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. E4.