Siliquaria weldii

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Siliquaria weldii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Orthogastropoda
Order: Mesogastropoda
Family: Siliquariidae
Genus: Siliquaria
Species: S. weldii
Binomial name
Siliquaria weldii
Tenison Woods, 1876
Synonyms

Siliquaria cumingi Suter, 1913

Siliquaria weldii is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Siliquariidae, common name the slit worm snails.

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[edit] Distribution

This species is endemic to south east Australia, and the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand from North Cape to East Cape, and the Chatham Islands.

[edit] Habitat

This snail lives at depths of between 45 and 185 m and are usually found embedded in a dense yellow sponge. The rounded aperture of the shell shows on the surface of the sponge, but the rest of the shell is concealed.

[edit] Shell description

The shell is white, with the appearance of a stretched-out corkscrew. The whorls are smooth, free for their entire length, and with a continuous narrow slit, its purpose assumed to be an exhalant path, a form of siphonal canal.

The shell length is up to 57 mm, and the tube width is up to 6 mm.

[edit] References