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Species Page:

Spiny Slippersnail

(Gmelin, 1791)

Bostrycapulus aculeatus

Class:

Gastropoda

Order:

Littorinimorpha

Family:

Calyptraeidae

Calyptraeidae

Image Voucher: 

ANSP 411038

Shell Information

Length (mm): 25-30

Dextral

Chirality:

This shell has a significant curve to one side. It has spiral rows of spines that are hollow or folded in shape. The inside of the shell has a shelf-like septum that spans a little less than half of the shells length. The outer shell is brown to gray in color while the inside is often brown with white blotches. The septum is typically white.

Description:

Ecological Information

Distribution:

Depth (m):

North Carolina to the Caribbean Sea

0 to 80 meters

Diet:

Suspension feeder

Habitat:

Marine; Hard substrates

Misc. Facts

This is also sometimes called the Thorny Slipper Shell.

Citations

MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Bostrycapulus aculeatus (Gmelin, 1791). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=419700 on 2021-06-23

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

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.

Rosenberg, G. 2009. Malacolog 4.1.1: A Database of Western Atlantic Marine Mollusca. [WWW database (version 4.1.1)] URL http://www.malacolog.org/

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