Cantharidella picturata facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cantharidella picturata |
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| Drawing with three views of a shell of Cantharidella picturata | |
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The painted kelp shell (scientific name: Cantharidella picturata) is a tiny sea snail. It is a type of mollusk that lives in the ocean. These snails belong to a group called gastropods, which includes all snails and slugs. They are part of the family Trochidae, often called "top snails" because of their cone-like shell shape.
What Does It Look Like?
The shell of the painted kelp shell is quite small. It usually measures between 4 and 8 millimeters. That's less than half an inch! It has a cone shape, like a tiny spinning top.
Amazing Colors and Patterns
One of the coolest things about this snail is how much its shell colors can change. It's "excessively variable," meaning you'll find many different patterns! Here are some common ones:
- Some shells are whitish with bright red or crimson flames. These flames often reach the edge of the shell. The background and bottom of the shell might also have tiny red dots. Sometimes, the flames are broken in the middle by a dotted line.
- Other shells have a clear yellowish or whitish background. On these, you might see small red dots arranged in lines. Often, there are short red flames just below the top edge of each spiral.
- A less common type is entirely purplish-black. The center hole at the bottom of the shell, called the umbilicus, might have a green tint.
Except for the purplish-black ones, most shells are whitish around the umbilicus. Inside the umbilicus and on the columella (the central pillar of the shell), you'll often see a green tint.
Shell Features
The top part of the shell, called the spire, is tall and conical. The lines where the shell's spirals meet, called sutures, are pressed in. The shell has five to six whorls, which are the turns of the spiral. These whorls are rounded.
They have raised lines, called lirae, circling them. There are usually 5 or 6 of these lines on the second-to-last whorl, but this can vary a lot. The main body of the shell, called the body whorl, has a noticeable ridge at its edge. The bottom part of this whorl is rounded.
The opening of the shell, called the aperture, is somewhat square-shaped. Inside, it has delicate ridges and looks iridescent, meaning it shimmers with rainbow colors, mostly green. The columella is curved at the top, then straight and slanted. It ends near the bottom with a small tooth-like bump.
This is a beautiful little snail species. Its shell is often decorated with dark red flames or covered in pink dots. Sometimes, the main color of the shell can even have a green tint or be pink.
Where Does It Live?
This sea snail lives in the ocean and is endemic to Australia. This means it is found only in Australia and nowhere else in the world! You can find it off the coasts of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania.
