Dianne Hausler - Marine Snails

Dianne Hausler

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Marine Snails

Moreton Bay Baler Melo georgiae Appearance: Orange-brown shell with white patterns. A spire and spines are found on one end of the shell. Size: To 250mm. Location: Found in sand and sand-mud in intertidal and subtidal zones. Information: A large brown slug-like marine snail lives inside the baler shell. By day they tend to bury themselves in the sand and emerge at night to feed. (Photographed at Ormiston, Redland City, Queensland)		Hercules Club Mud Whelk Pyrazus ebeninus Appearance: Purple to brown shell. Whorls with raised cords. Size: To 90mm. Location: Found in mudflats in intertidal zones. Common in Moreton Bay. Information: Removes organic material from mudflats by feeding on detritus and algae on the surface of the mud. (Photographed at Ormiston, Redland, Queensland)

Leaden Sand Snail Polinices sordidus Appearance: Rounded shell with a conical point. Pink to grey/brown in colour. Size: To 50mm. Location: Found in seagrass beds and intertidal sandy to muddy zones. Information: Lays egg masses that are more than twice its own size. (Photographed at Blue Hole (west of Moreton Island), Queensland)		Leaden Sand Snail egg-mass Polinices sordidus Appearance: Collar shaped sausage jelly. Hundreds of tiny dots are suspended inside the jelly. The dots are eggs. Size: To 120mm. Location: Found in seagrass beds and intertidal sandy to muddy zones. Information: The Leaden Sand Snail lays eggs in a jelly matrix, which rapidly absorbs water and swell into a collar shaped sausage. (Photographed at Blue Hole (west of Moreton Island), Queensland)

Pyramid Periwinkle (Marine Snail) Nodilittoina pyramidalis Appearance: Two rows of strong nodules on centre of body whorl and one row at lower third of spire whorls. Size: 15 - 20mm. Information: Found on rock faces in high intertidal zones. It feeds on the algae that grows on the rocks. (Photographed at Stradbroke Island, Redland City, Queensland)