Black turban snail

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Tegula funebralis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda Order: Archaeogastropoda Family: Trochidae Genus: Tegula Species: T. funebralis
Binomial name
Tegula funebralis (A. Adams, 1855)

The black turban snail, Tegula funebralis, is a medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Trochidae, the top snails.

Two live snails and several hermit-crabbed shells of Tegula funebralis and three hermit-crabbed shells of Tegula brunnea on a dead Gumboot chiton in a tide pool in central California

[edit] Distribution

The species is found along the Pacific coast of North America from Vancouver Island to the central part of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico.

[edit] Shell description

Most adult individuals of this species have shells which are 20 to 40 mm or about an inch, to an inch and three quarters in diameter.

Empty shells of this species are very often used by hermit crabs.

[edit] Habitat

The species is found in the rocky intertidal zone, where these snails graze on algae, microscopic films and wrack.

[edit] Life habits

T. funebralis is sexually dimorphic, not hermaphroditic. These snails may live as long as twenty or thirty years. When fleeing a predator on a sloping substrate, the snail may simply detach itself and thus it will roll or drop away.

[edit] Predators

Predators of T. funebralis include sea otters and predatory starfish such as Pisaster ochraceous.

[edit] References

James H. McLean, 1969, Marine shells of southern California

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