Cerithium caeruleum

Cerithium caeruleum, the Cerith sand snail, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cerithiidae.[1]

Cerith sand snail
Five views of a shell of Cerithium caeruleum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Sorbeoconcha
Superfamily:
Cerithioidea
Family:
Cerithiidae
Genus:
Cerithium
Species:
C. caeruleum
Binomial name
Cerithium caeruleum
Synonyms
  • Cerithium caeruleum var. minima H. Fischer & Vignal, 1901
  • Cerithium tuberculatum Lamarck, 1822
  • Clypeomorus caeruleum (G.B. Sowerby II, 1855)
  • Vertagus schroteri Mörch, 1852

Distribution

This species is widespread in the tropical Indo-Pacific (Red Sea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania and Western India).[1][2][3]

Shell of Cerithium caeruleum from Tanzania

Habitat

These sea snails live in rocky shores in the mid-eulittoral zone and deeper.[1]

Description

Shells of Cerithium caeruleum can reach a length of 20–40 millimetres (0.79–1.57 in).[2] These shells show a few rows of nodules and tiny beads on whorls. The external surface of the shell may be brown, greyish-white or greenish, with a white aperture.[1]

Bibliography
  • Dautzenberg, Ph. (1929). Contribution à l'étude de la faune de Madagascar: Mollusca marina testacea. Faune des colonies françaises, III (fasc. 4). Société d'Editions géographiques, maritimes et coloniales: Paris. 321–636
  • Hamlyn Guide to Shells of the World, p. 54
  • Alain Robin - Encyclopedia of Marine Gastropods, p. 64/10

References
  1. "Cerithium caeruleum G. B. Sowerby II, 1855". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  2. "Cerithium caeruleum". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  3. "Cerithium caeruleum G.B. Sowerby II, 1855". Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 16 December 2015.


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