Cantharidus purpureus

Taxobox
name = "Cantharidus purpureus"
status =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
subclassis = Prosobranchia
ordo = Archaeogastropoda
superfamilia = Trochacea
familia = Trochidae
genus = "Cantharidus"
species = "C. purpureus"
binomial = "Cantharidus purpureus"
binomial_authority = (Gmelin, 1791)

"Cantharidus purpureus" is a species of medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Trochidae, the top snails.

Distribution

This species is endemic to the North Island, and northern half of the South Island, of New Zealand.

Habitat

This top snail lives on brown seaweed in clear water, at low water and below.

hell description

The shell is a tallish cone, with the surface densely and finely spirally lirate.

The external shell coloration is variable, greenish-grey to bright rose, sometimes with oblique longitudinal reddish streaks

The shell height is up to 32 mm, and the width is up to 20 mm.

References

* Powell A W B, "New Zealand Mollusca", William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
* Miller M & Batt G, "Reef and Beach Life of New Zealand", William Collins (New Zealand) Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1973
* Glen Pownall, "New Zealand Shells and Shellfish", Seven Seas Publishing Pty Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 85467 054 8