snail id

[cloak]

Can I get an id on this snail again. I posted this picture years ago but I forgot. At various LFS in my area they seem to go by many names, so I just wanted to make sure. Thanks.

 

[pagojoe]

Cittarium pica.


Don

 

[cloak]

So would a Banded Trochus snail be on the level as far as a name goes?

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

So would a Banded Trochus snail be on the level as far as a name goes?

Yes. Excellent grazers.

 

[johnike]

And not as easy to find as they used to be.

 

[cloak]

Sweet! TY.

 

[pagojoe]

Well, that's a Caribbean snail. The Banded Trochus is Indo-Pacific in origin. C. pica is usually called the West Indian Top Shell, but it's more closely related to the Turbans than Trochus. It's an odd case, with an operc that looks more like a Trochus species, though. They are algae grazers like all their relatives, but this one gets big.

Trivia note: the story goes that when Columbus arrived in the Americas, his men gathered a bunch of these snails and ate them, along with the fish they caught. Many of them got Ciguatera Poisoning--so named because the sailors believed the snails poisoned them, when it was actually neurotoxins in the fish. The snails were thought to be toxic for many years after the incident.

Cheers,



Don

 

[cloak]

Escargot can be off the hook sometimes...