Trochus maculatus Linnaeus,
1758
26.8mm
These
are abundant on many shallow lagoon, pinnacle and seaward reefs, usually under
rocks but sometimes exposed on the hard substrate.
This one must have had a cap shell
attached to its shell, which wore away some of the shell of the Trochus,
exposing the nacreous mother-of-pearl layer that underlies the outer layer of
shell material. The cap shell must have fallen off quite recently.
The shell below is carrying a garden
of hydroids as well as a hitchhiking tiny starfish, possibly a juvenile Culcita
novaeguinea.
25.4mm empty shell.
Created
4 January 2018
Updated 27 December 2023
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