Rachel Franklin has spoken of her horror when she popped a giant growth on her seven-year-old son Paul’s (centre) knee and discovered a black sea snail inside
Recalling the incident, she said she had previously visited the doctor, who said the growth was a staph infection, prescribed antibiotics and told her not to pop it
The snail had been growing in the tissue above Paul’s knee. It was identified as a littorina scutulata, a type of sea snail that can survive in a wide range of temperatures and waters
Biologist Dan Riskin explained that littorina scutulata snails can survive for weeks in different temperatures and salt levels. The tissue below the skin in the body mirrors these harsh conditions, he said
