Mud Dog Snail ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

Mud Dog Snail

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Nassarius spp

Size: to 1"

Habitat: intertidal to shallows, on muddy bottoms

Notes:

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

Snails

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.

More: Snails ...

Mud Dog Snail

Snails

Morania barge