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Family Ellobiidae - cassidula and pythia snails
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Class |
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Gastropoda |
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No. of Genera in Ref. |
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Environment |
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Fresh : No |
Brackish : Yes |
Marine : Yes |
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Remark |
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(= Melampidae). Shell moderately solid, ovate to cylindrical or fusiform in shape, with a rather short conical spire and large nody whorl. Outer surface smooth or with low sculpture. Aperture somewhat like an ear in shape, often narrowed by folds, teeth and other constrictions on 1 or both lips. No anterior siphonal canal. Inner walls of the spire mostly resorbed (dissolved by the adult animal). Operculum absent. Animal completely retractable inside the shell. Head flap-like, with 1 pair of tentacles bearing yes at their bases. Foot well developed, sometimes divided by a transverse groove into anterior and posterior portions. Pallial cavity modified into a primitice lung. Respiratory orifice opening along the posterior edge of mantle. Most of the species live amphibiously in nipa palm and mangrove swamps or in littoral marine environments. Coastal populations of the Southeast Asian region traditionally used larger species for food; still consumed locally in Indonesia (Ref. 349). |
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