Blotched Nerite

Nerita albicilla, common name the blotched nerite, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Neritidae.^[1]

Description

N. albicilla grows up to 4 cm; its shell surface is smooth or with slight transverse ridges; it has small pustules and four weak teeth on the columella. Its outer shell color is variegated black and white, occasionally with three conspicuous bands. The interior is white, with a pinkish-grey, granular operculum.^[1]

Distribution map of Nerita albicilla.

Distribution

Tropical Indo-Pacific^[1]

• Aldabra
• Australia (Kalk, 1958)
• Chagos
• East Coast of South Africa
• Kenya
• Madagascar
• Mascarene Basin
• Mauritius
• Mozambique
• Red Sea
• Seychelles
• Tanzania

Habitat

It is found on rocky cliffs, on rocks in the littoral fringe, and sometimes on mangrove trees.^[1]

Parasites

• Vibrio parahaemolyticus^[2]

References

This article incorporates CC-BY-SA-3.0 work from the reference.^[1]

• Kilburn, R.N. & Rippey, E. (1982) Sea Shells of Southern Africa. Macmillan South Africa, Johannesburg, xi + 249 pp
• Drivas, J. & Jay, M. (1987). Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'Île Maurice. Collection Les Beautés de la Nature. Delachaux et Niestlé: Neuchâtel. ISBN 2-603-00654-1. 159 pp
• Blackmore, G. (1998). The importance of feeding ecology in investigating accumulated heavy metal body burdens in Thais clavigera (Kuster) (mollusca: neogastropoda: muricidae) in Hong Kong. PhD thesis. The University of Hong Kong
• Steyn, D.G. & Lussi, M. (1998) Marine Shells of South Africa. An Illustrated Collector's Guide to Beached Shells. Ekogilde Publishers, Hartebeespoort, South Africa, ii + 264 pp.
• Jarrett, A.G. (2000) Marine Shells of the Seychelles. Carole Green Publishing, Cambridge, xiv + 149 pp. NIZT 682
• Liu, J.Y. [Ruiyu] (ed.). (2008). Checklist of marine biota of China seas. China Science Press. 1267 pp.
• Fowler, O. (2016). Seashells of the Kenya coast. ConchBooks: Harxheim. Pp. 1–170.