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  • José H. Leal

Shell of the Week: The Keys Top Snail

Calliostoma adelae Schwengel, 1951 reaches about 40 mm in height, and has a moderately wide spire angle. The shell sculpture consists of finely beaded spiral cords that alternate with narrower threads in the last shell whorls. There are about 2–3 cords with larger, lighter-colored beads above the suture (the boundary between two whorls), the umbilicus is moderately large, umbilicus wall cream-colored, bordered by one larger-beaded cord. The shell color is yellowish-brown, with a pattern of diffuse, broad, brownish spiral bands. This shell was collected by Dale Stingley off Indian Key, Florida Keys, in 1970.


The Keys Top Snail, Calliostoma adelae, from off Indian Key, Florida. Illustration by James F. Kelly.
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