Monodonta labio

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar and the Mascarene basin and in the Western Pacific and off the Philippines and commonly seen in Hong Kong near tide line.

The length of the shell size varies between 15 mm and 45 mm. The shell is heavy and coarse with rough, grained surface with moderate sutures between rounded whorls. The body whorl is swollen and the penultimate whorl somewhat less. The shell shows a rounded keel (a spiral ridge marking a change of slope) and an umbilicus sealed with a callus. The apex is often worn away in adults. The columella has a prominent, blunt tooth. The inner edge of the outer lip shows a number of smaller knobs. The aperture has a nacreous interior. The color of the shell varies from a dark reddish brown to pale brown, with spiraled dashes of cream or pink.

This marine species occurs over a wide range in Central and East Indian Ocean, Indo-China, Indo-Malaysian Oceania, the Philippines; the Persian Gulf, West Indian Ocean to Micronesia, Western Pacific, Micronesia and Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia)

This snail lives on or under rocks and coral in the lower intertidal zone. But it tolerates a wide variety of substrata.

This species is a herbivorous snail grazing on microalgae

Notes

Bibliography

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• Donald K.M., Kennedy M. & Spencer H.G. (2005) The phylogeny and taxonomy of austral monodontine topshells (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Trochidae), inferred from DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 37: 474–483
• Wilson, B. 2002. A Handbook to Australian Seashells on Seashores East to West and North to South. Sydney : Reed New Holland 185 pp.
• Poppe G.T., Tagaro S.P. & Dekker H. (2006) The Seguenziidae, Chilodontidae, Trochidae, Calliostomatidae and Solariellidae of the Philippine Islands. Visaya Supplement 2: 1–228. page(s): 95
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Monodonta labio.

• "Monodonta labio labio". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 16 March 2011.