The Exotics Guide

Urosalpinx cinerea Image 1

Urosalpinx cinerea shell from San Francisco Bay. Note the rounded vertical ribs crossed by thinner spiral ridges, and the open canal at the base of the aperture.

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Urosalpinx cinerea (Say, 1822)

ATLANTIC OYSTER DRILL

  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Mollusca
  • Class: Gastropoda
  • Subclass: Prosobranchia
  • Order: Neogastropoda
  • Family: Muricidae

Urosalpinx cinerea has a knobby, rugged shell with usually 5 whorls (a whorl is a complete turn of the spiral shell) with rounded shoulders. There are 9-12 vertical, rounded ribs per whorl, which are crossed with about 15 rows of thinner spiral ridges. The aperture (the opening through which the snail emerges) is oval with a short, open canal at its base. There are 2-6 small teeth inside the aperture on its outer lip.

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Myosotella myosotis Image 3

Close up of Assiminea californica. Note the shorter, rounder and darker brown shell.

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Myosotella myosotis Image 2

Myosotella myosotis below and Assiminea californica, a native snail often found in the same high saltmarsh habitat as Myosotella, above. Note the characteristic differences in the size, shape and color of their shells.

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Myosotella myosotis Key Image

Myosotella myosotis on the underside of a board, in the upper part of a salt marsh in San Francisco Bay. Note the elongate shell and the slightly tilted apex.

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Myosotella myosotis (Draparnaud, 1801)

MOUSE-EAR OVATELLA, MOUSE-EAR MARSHSNAIL

  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Mollusca
  • Class: Gastropoda
  • Order: Pulmonata
  • Family: Ellobiidae

Myosotella myosotis is a small snail with a smooth, thin shell that is brown, yellow-brown or red-brown, sometimes with a white or light-colored margin around the aperture (the opening through which the snail emerges). The aperture is long and roughly oval in shape, rounded at the bottom but narrowing to a point at the top. There are 2 or 3 conspicuous, oblique ridges or folds on the lower part of the inner wall of the aperture.

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Busycotypus canaliculatus Image 6

More Busycotypus canaliculatus for sale in Oakland’s Chinatown.

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Busycotypus canaliculatus Image 5

Busycotypus canaliculatus for sale in an Oakland Chinatown market.

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4

A live specimen of Busycotypus canaliculatus from an Oakland Chinatown market. Note the periostracum with stiff hairs.

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3

A Busycotypus canaliculatus ploughing through the mud at Crab Cove in Alameda.

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