Mitra mitra (episcopal miter snail) 1 (24970740715)

Description:

Description: Mitra mitra (Linnaeus, 1758) - episcopal miter snail (abapertural view) (public display, Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum, Sanibel Island, Florida, USA) 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. The episcopal miter snail shown above is part of the Indo-West Pacific Province: "The world's largest and richest province extends from the Red Sea and East Africa across the Indian Ocean, then touches northern Australia and southern Japan to extend eastward throughout the "South Seas" to Hawaii and Easter Island. Probably 5,000 marine species are found in its shallow coral waters." [info. from museum signage] Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Neogastropoda, Mitridae Locality: unrecorded/undisclosed/unspecified More info. at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitra_mitra. Date: 2 January 2016, 17:19. Source: Mitra mitra (episcopal miter snail) 1. Author: James St. John.