Semicassis royana
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| Semicassis royana | ||||||||||||||||
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| Semicassis royana (Iredale, 1914) |
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Cassidea royana Iredale, 1914 |
Semicassis royana is a species of very large predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc. This species is in the subfamily Cassinae, the helmet shells and bonnet shells, which feed on sea urchins.
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[edit] Distribution
This species is found along the east coast of Northland in the North Island of New Zealand, and in New Zealand's Kermadec Islands.
[edit] Habitat
This sea snail lives at depths of between 35 and 45 m.
[edit] Shell description
The shell is very large and solid, with a tall spire, angled at the shoulder, and with two rows of blunt tubercles, the upper row the stronger. The outer lip has a heavy rounded smooth varix. The inner lip callus shield is smooth and adpressed, bridging a very small umbilical cavity.
[edit] Life habits
At the Poor Knights Islands it is known to eat the giant heart urchin Brissus gigas.
[edit] Shell description
The shell coloration is light pinkish-brown, with four or five spiral bands, irregularly maculated, and crossed by meandering axial streaks of reddish-brown. The labial varix and end of the siphonal canal is dark purplish-brown, and the callus shield is cream to orange-brown at its outer edge.
The maximum shell height is 151 mm, and width 83 mm.
