Austrocochlea diminuta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Austrocochlea diminuta |
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| Original drawing of a shell of Austrocochlea diminuta | |
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Austrocochlea diminuta is a type of small sea snail. It's a marine (ocean) snail that belongs to the family called Trochidae. These snails are often known as "top snails" because of their shell shape.
Contents
About This Snail
This snail is a mollusk, which is a group of soft-bodied animals. It lives in the ocean.
What It Looks Like
The shell of Austrocochlea diminuta is quite small. It grows to about 7 millimeters (which is less than half an inch) tall and 7 millimeters wide. The shell feels dull and a bit rough.
It has about 5 and a half whorls, which are the spiral turns of the shell. These turns are separated by clear lines called sutures.
Shell Colors and Patterns
The color of this snail's shell can be very different from one snail to another. Some shells are a solid maroon or a solid slate gray. Others might have wide stripes of a light yellowish-brown color.
Sometimes, the spiral patterns on the shell have light yellowish-brown spots on a maroon or slate background. You can also find shells with a mix of these patterns.
Inside the shell, the opening is called the aperture. The inside of this opening is shiny and pearly, like the inside of an oyster shell. This pearly layer is called nacre, and it often has a bright emerald green edge.
Shell Features
The shell has raised spiral ridges. There are usually four or five of these ridges on the upper parts of the shell. On the last, largest part of the shell, there can be about sixteen ridges. The ridges are smaller and closer together near the bottom of the shell.
Both the ridges and the spaces between them have fine lines that show how the shell grew over time. The opening of the shell is somewhat square-shaped and very shiny inside.
The central pillar of the shell, called the columella, has three small bumps on its inner side. Inside the shell's opening, there are about seven small ridges that start near the edge of the lip.
Where It Lives
This marine snail is endemic to Australia. This means it is found only in Australia and nowhere else in the world. You can find Austrocochlea diminuta off the coasts of the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia.
