Cominella adspersa
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| Cominella adspersa | ||||||||||||||||
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| Cominella adspersa (Brugière, 1789) |
Cominella adspersa, or the speckled whelk, is a large predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks.
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[edit] Distribution
This species is endemic to New Zealand. It is found around the North Island, the northern half of the South Island, and the Chatham Islands.
[edit] Habitat
This whelk lives on muddy sand beaches at the lower intertidal level.
[edit] Shell description
The shell of this species is large and solid, varying greatly in the height of the spire, and in the sculpture, which may be strongly lirate or almost smooth. The whorls are roundly to massively shouldered.
The shell coloration varies from uniformly chocolate-brown to tessalated with spiral rows of reddish-brown squarish dots on a buff or yellowish-brown ground. The interior of the aperture is chrome or orange-yellow. The body is dark grey, spotted with opaque white.
The shell height is up to 70 mm, and the width is up to 43 mm.
[edit] LIfe habits
The egg capsules are whitish, about 8 mm long, and look as if they are made out of plastic.
[edit] References
- Powell A. W. B., New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
- Glen Pownall, New Zealand Shells and Shellfish, Seven Seas Publishing Pty Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 85467 054 8
- Miller M & Batt G, Reef and Beach Life of New Zealand, William Collins (New Zealand) Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1973
