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Species Page:

Bleeding Tooth Nerite

Linnaeus, 1758

Nerita peloronta

Class:

Gastropoda

Order:

Cycloneritida

Family:

Neritidae

Neritidae

Image Voucher: 

ANSP 300851, ANSP 390920

Shell Information

Diameter (mm): 25-47

Dextral

Chirality:

This is a heavy globe shaped shell with a short pointed spire. The body whorl has regularly spaced spiral ribs. There are one to two distinct teeth at the center of the inner lip of the aperture usually surrounded by an orange or red stain that give the shell its name. The shell is tan to yellow with a wide range of axial zigzag patterns of black and red.

Description:

Ecological Information

Distribution:

Depth (m):

East Florida to Trinidad

0.5 to 0 meters

Diet:

Herbivore

Habitat:

Marine; Rocky intertidal zone

Misc. Facts

This snail is typically a nocturnal grazer.

Citations

MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Nerita peloronta Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=419504 on 2021-06-23

Rosenberg, G., F. Moretzsohn, and E. F. Garc�a. 29. Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 579�699 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico�Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M University Press, College Station, Texas.

Morris, P. A. (1987). A field guide to shells: Atlantic and Gulf coasts and the West Indies (3rd ed.). Houghton Mifflin.

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