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Family Turritellidae - turret shells
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Class |
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Gastropoda |
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Environment |
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Fresh : No |
Brackish : No |
Marine : Yes |
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Remark |
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Shell elongate, sharply conical, with numerous whorls and a small, square to rounded aperture. Umbilicus usually absent. Whorls strongly scuptured with spiral ribs or keels. Growth lines arched to sinuous. Outer lip of the aperture thin, often concave. Inner lip smooth. Anterior siphonal canal absent. Operculum corneous, rounded, with many spiral coils and a central nucleus; border of the operculum very thin, often with flexible bristles. Head large and prominent, with a short snout and long, tapering tentacles bearing eyes on slight swellings at their outer bases. Foot rather short, truncate anteriorly, obtusely attenuated posteriorly and grooved beneath. Filter-feeding, mostly living in soft, subtidal bottoms of sand or mud. Organic particles are drawn through the mantle cavity by means of ciliary water currents, sorted by small tentacles and the tiny bristles of the operculum, trapped in mucuous sheets on the gills and transferred to the mouth.. Sexes separate, fertilization internal. Eggs generally laid in a cluster of spherical, stalked capsules, attached to stones. A short, planktonic larval stage is usually present, but some species brood their eggs and embryos to the crawling stage. In the area, Turritellidae are collected occasionally for food, but mainly for their shells that are used in the shellcraft industries to make decorative items (Ref. 349). |
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