#calliostoma

[snailspotter]

Can I get assigned a snail please? (o´▽`o)

You get a...

Diagnosis: Calliostoma supragranosum Common name: Granulose Topsnail

(source)

[colorsoutofearth]

Purple-ringed Topsnail (Calliostoma annulatum)

Photo by David Hall

[animalids]

Jeweled topsnail (Calliostoma annulatum)

Photo by Marlin Harms

[morphons]

Beach finds from between Penzance and Marazion. 27 December 2019.

1 painted top shell (Calliostoma zizyphinum)

1 crab claw - probably a young edible crab (Cancer pagurus).

96 pieces of sea glass, including a first ever piece of UV milk glass (next to the shell)! Lots of clear, aqua and seafoam again, including a few very satisfying symmetrical aqua pieces - lower centre, indicated by longer shadows - one is completely round but I don’t think it was a marble, and the other two are gumdrop shape, indicating their origin could be a stopper (in the case of the smaller one) or a mamelon/kick-up (in the case of the larger one). On the row above those, the long seafoam one on the right is part of a bottleneck.

[snailspotter]

Today's snail: Calliostoma variegatum

(source)

[morphons]

Beach finds from Par Sands and Polkerris Beach, Cornwall. 29 November 2019.

12 surf clam (Spisula solida) halves.

1 hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) half – not confident with this id.

2 rayed artemis (Dosinia exoleta) halves.

5 banded venus (Clausinella fasciata) halves.

1 thin tellin (Tellina tenuis) pair.

1 blue rayed limpet (Patella pellucida).

1 striped venus (Chamelea gallina) pair, + 5 halves.

1 rayed trough shell (Mactra stultorum) half.

1 painted top shell (Calliostoma zizyphinum).

1 flat periwinkle (Littorina obtusata).

2 netted dog whelks (Tritia reticulata).

and probably the last weathered shell fragment I’ll collect. I’d already stopped picking these up, however perfect, and only took this one to make a point about omitting this object type from beach hauls from now on.

23 glass fragments, 22 of which are the usual lovely rounded ones, and 1 is an unusual piece of black (very dark green) glass. The frosting on the raised concentric circles (which, if this is the base of a bottle, would have been on the inside) is perfect, and a pleasant contrast with the jagged (but worn enough to not be sharp) edges.

[morphons]

Beach finds from multiple walks between Penzance and Marazion during February 2020. 

1 banded wedge shell (Donax vittatus) pair.

2 painted top shells (Calliostoma zizyphinum), 1 large, 1 small. 

1 very small auger shell (Turritella communis) (Bittium reticulatum).

2 sting winkles (Ocenebra erinaceus), 1 large, 1 small(er). 

18 small netted dog whelk (Tritia reticulata) shells. 

14 spotted cowrie (Trivia monacha) shells. 

137 perfect pieces of sea glass - my favourite by far from this month is the incredibly bright turquoise one on the bottom row.

6 pottery fragments, all white porcelain: 1 dark blue, probably willow pattern, could be tiles on a roof with a tree branch in front of it; 1 mid-blue flower and leaf design; 1 with only a few dark blue lines visible, possibly the edge of a design (plate?); 1 mid blue criss cross pattern surrounded by leaves and fruit; 1 mid-blue circles and lines pattern, probably the edge of a design (plate?); 1 very sharply detailed design in black, with an ornate leaf, a flag that says ‘YARMOUTH’ backwards, and the letters ‘WITH’, which could be the word on its own or the beginning of another. 

[drhoz]

#2807 - Maurea tigris - Tiger Top Shell

AKA Rehoreho, Calliostoma tigris, tiger maurea, and tiger topsnail. Other synonyms include Trochus granatum, Trochus tigris, Venustas tigris and Venustas tigris chathamensis.

Endemic to the waters of New Zealand (like the bulk of the countries molluscs, for that matter) and the largest species in the Calliostomatidae, up to 10cm across. The family is particularly well-represented in New Zealand with some 39 species, compared to about 300 worldwide. The various species live from the intertidal down to about 3000m depth and are considered carnivores.

The shells are usually very shiny and clean in the wild, too - this may be because they swipe their foot over the outside of the shell at least once a day, and spend 90 minutes doing it, if a 2010 paper about a captive Calliostoma alertae is anything to go by.

Otago Museum, Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand