ID on a Snail

[Richard101]

This snail came in to the fish store as a olive snail but wasn't sure if it was an olive snail or a cone snail, the back seems more rounded than a cone snail but I wanted to be sure before I handled it.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[iamwhatiam52]

Olive, common variety found in South Florida.

 

[pagojoe]

It's an olive, but it's an Indo-Pacific species. I can't tell which one without looking at the aperture, but it's probably Oliva reticulata. Oliva sericea can look a lot like that from the dorsum, too.

http://www.gastropods.com/0/Shell_180.shtml
http://www.gastropods.com/4/Shell_1214.shtml

Cheers,



Don

 

[Richard101]

Thanks guys

 

[iamwhatiam52]

It's an olive, but it's an Indo-Pacific species. I can't tell which one without looking at the aperture, but it's probably Oliva reticulata. Oliva sericea can look a lot like that from the dorsum, too.

http://www.gastropods.com/0/Shell_180.shtml
http://www.gastropods.com/4/Shell_1214.shtml

Cheers,



Don

Olive, common variety found in South Florida.

OOPS!
Sorry for the misinformation. I just assumed that since you were in Florida it was the local one that looks the same to my untrained eye.

Joe, what characteristic tells them apart?

 

[pagojoe]

We'll pardon ya, since Olives are one of the hardest families to differentiate to the species level, lol. The short answer, in this case, is that the shell is too "fat" to be either of the large species from Florida. Even though some of them can be extremely variable in color and pattern, there are a few standard forms that are most common, some with separated names. Color and pattern can be a good starting point for an ID, but you have to compare the spire height, length to width ratio, and columella color and shape to verify your guess. The width of the aperture can also be a clue, as can the shape and construction of the earliest whorls of the spire, the protoconch. For a couple of the Indo-Pacific species, the easiest way to separate them is by the lip: in one species the lip edge is rounded and smooth, while in the other species it's almost sharp.

Since Richard's olive is fat, with a dark gray tented pattern showing two distinct bands, with the tiny bit of the lip showing in the second pic above appearing orange or reddish, and since I know that is one of the most common forms of Oliva reticulata, that let's me make an educated guess at its ID.

Here are the two large Florida species. Notice the difference in overall shape:

http://www.gastropods.com/2/Shell_182.shtml
http://www.gastropods.com/3/Shell_1203.shtml

Oliva sayana is way more elongated and cylindrical, while Oliva reticularis is more oval, with a much taller spire. The latter also lacks the distinct banding.

Cheers,



Don

 

[iamwhatiam52]

Thanks Don.

As you mentioned, color variation in the species of Florida olives is extremely variable.

I am currently visiting my parent who are retired and live in Boca Raton. They have collected thousands of olives and have some that are so dark they look nothing like the ones pictured in your links. I'll post pictures but cannot do it for a few weeks till I get home.

 

[iamwhatiam52]

Here are the pics.

Not relevant to the original question, but some of you might find it interesting.

These are not the usual color. Most look similar to the pictures at the start of this thread. Maybe one in a hundred are as brown or distinctly banded as these.
Clearly, morphological characteristics rather than color need to be used for identification.
All these were collected from beaches in south Florida, mostly Boca Raton and Jupiter.