Niveria pediculus (coffee-bean trivia snail) (St. Thomas, Virgin Islands) 1

Description:

Description: English: Niveria pediculus (Linnaeus, 1758) - coffee-bean trivia snail shell (modern) (abapertural view) The gastropods (snails & slugs) are a group of molluscs that occupy marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. Most gastropods have a calcareous external shell (the snails). Some lack a shell completely, or have reduced internal shells (the slugs & sea slugs & pteropods). Most members of the Gastropoda are marine. Most marine snails are herbivores (algae grazers) or predators/carnivores. This is a beachworn coffee-bean trivia snail shell, Niveria pediculus, which is a member of Family Triviidae. Trivias generally have a cowry-like shell shape, with the shell’s spire covered as a result of sub-planispiral coiling. Unlike cowries, which have a smooth and glossy abapertural shell surface, trivias have prominently ridged and grooved shell surfaces. Trivias prey on tunicates and some octocorals. Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Triviidae Locality: Brewers Bay, St. Thomas, western Virgin Islands. Date: 29 September 2020, 17:18:17. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/47445767@N05/50410412131/. Author: James St. John.