Sep 24, 2024
#2523 - Maoricolpus roseus - Turret Shell
Native to all New Zealand coastlines, from the intertidal down to about 200m depth, on fine silts, muds, and sandy, gravelly or shelly substrates. They feed on food particles in the water column.
Unfortunately, introduced into Tasmania in the 1930s, when live oysters were imported for farming. The screw shell has since spread rapidly around Tasmania, and along New South Wales and Victorian coastlines, and is now so abundant in some areas that benthic habitat has been changed from fine sand or mud to one with a dense cover of live and dead shells and faecal pellets.
Miramar Peninsula, Wellington, New Zealand.