Awateria crossei facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Awateria crossei |
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| Original drawing of a shell of Awateria crossei | |
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Pleurotoma (Drillia) crossei E. A. Smith, 1891 (original combination) |
Awateria crossei is a type of sea snail. It is a marine gastropod mollusk that belongs to the family Borsoniidae. This means it is a creature with a soft body, often protected by a shell, that lives in the ocean.
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Meet the Awateria crossei Snail!
This small sea snail was first described in 1891. It is known for its unique shell.
What Does Its Shell Look Like?
The shell of Awateria crossei is usually white and has a spindle-like shape, which means it's wider in the middle and tapers at both ends. It can grow up to 10 millimeters long, which is about the size of a small pea. The shell is also about 3.75 millimeters wide.
Shell Features
- Whorls: The shell has seven whorls, which are the spiral turns that make up the snail's shell. The top whorls are curved outwards, while others are slightly curved inwards with rounded edges.
- Riblets: You can see about 15 diagonal ridges, called riblets, on the shell. These ridges are less noticeable on the last few whorls.
- Opening: The opening of the shell, called the aperture, is quite small. The top edge of this opening is not deeply curved.
- Texture: The shell's whorls are narrower at the bottom and stick out more at the rounded edges. The riblets are slanted and wavy in the curved parts of the shell. You might also notice faint spiral lines, called lirae, especially around the lower part of the main body whorl. These lines are not present in the curved area just below the seam where the whorls join.
Where Does It Live?
Awateria crossei is a marine species, meaning it lives in the ocean. It is endemic to Australia, which means it is found only in Australia and nowhere else in the world.
Images for kids
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Original drawing of a shell of Awateria crossei
