Snails ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

Snails

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These creatures are all of the order Gastropoda - having a single, often coiled, shell, as opposed to the bivalves, which have two matching shells. Most snails are hermaphroditic. Also, most snails have a right-hand twist to the shell, although there are exceptions.

Right:
X-ray image of a Channeled Whelk, showing internal structure.

Nudibranchs are a form of snail that has lost its shell, while Corollas and Sea Butterflies are snails that have abandoned not just their shells, but the snail-like existence entirely, swimming up into the water column as plankton.

Channeled Whelk

Busycon canaliculatum

Size: to 8"

Habitat: intertidal down to 60 ft

Notes:
Whelks are the largest snails in this area. Related Lightning Whelk grows to 16", and is sometimes called Conch and eaten as such. Whelks prey on bivalves by drilling through their shells.

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Northern Moon Snail

Lunatia heros

Size: to 4"

Habitat: generally in deeper water, but possible in shallows

Notes: quite common in places

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Mud Dog Snail

Nassarius spp

Size: to 1"

Habitat: intertidal to shallows, on muddy bottoms

Notes:

This scavenger is often found on dead fish and other animals.

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Oyster Drill

Urosalpinx cinera

Size: to 1"

Habitat: subtidal down to 50 ft

Notes: This little snail uses acid and its rasp-like tongue to drill a neat hole in a bivalve or barnacle victim, then sucks out the contents.

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Common Periwinkle

Littorina littorea

Size: to 1.2"

Habitat: intertidal, on any solid substrate

Notes: vegetarian - feeds on seaweeds

This is another good snail for a cold-water aquarium, as it will constantly clean all surfaces of algae, and also consume any other waste it finds. They are also edible.

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Slipper Shells

Crepidula fornicata

Size: to 0.8 - 2 "

Habitat: attached to solid surfaces, often other larger shells

Notes:

Although the dead empty shells superficially resemble bivalves, Slipper Shells are actually extremely flattened snails. The living animal has only a single uncoiled shell, and lives under it attached to a hard surface. A small shelf inside gives these odd animals their name. The illustration shows the shell from above on the left and from below on the right. Slipper shells are quite commonly attached to the undersides of Sea Scallops, often in stacks. Filter feeders.

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New Jersey Scuba Diving