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  • José H. Leal

Shell of the Week: The Chocolate-lined Top Snail

Calliostoma javanicum , (Lamarck, 1822), reaches 35 mm (about 1.4 inches), and is one the most attractive top snail species in the western Atlantic. Its shell is covered with dark-brown spiral lines, which are also present on the shell base (the “bottom” of the shell.) The shell outline is “triangular”, with the spire joining the base at a sharp angle. The species is present in the Gulf of Mexico (in deeper water), the Florida Keys, and the Caribbean south to Brazil.


The Chocolate-lined Top Snail, Calliostoma javanicum, from off Key West, Florida. Photos by James F. Kelly.
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