Umbonium zelandica
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| Umbonium zelandica | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Umbonium zelandica (Hombron & Jacquinot, 1855) |
Umbonium zelandica, common name wheel shell, is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Trochidae, the top snails.
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[edit] Distribution
This species is endemic to New Zealand. It is found all around New Zealand.
[edit] Habitat
This snail lives around the low water mark on sandy ocean beaches, and can be very abundant in some localities in Northland.
[edit] Shell description
The shell is solid and depressed. The colour is creamy-white or pinkish, closely radially streaked in purplish or reddish, with a coppery iridescence. A whitish heavy callus forms a wide clear circle around the umbilicus, which may be partly open or completely closed. Bordering the callused area is a spiral band of purple. The interior of the aperture is greenish iridescent.
The shell height is up to 13 mm, and width up to 22 mm.
[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
