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Family Xenophoridae - carrier shells
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Order |
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Class |
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Gastropoda |
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No. of Genera in Ref. |
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Environment |
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Fresh : No |
Brackish : No |
Marine : Yes |
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Remark |
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Shell lightweight, usually wider than long, low-conical in shape with a somewhat depressed spire and a broad, flattened concave base. Sculpture of dorsal surface often with irregular radial folds. Periphery carinated, with a lobed marginal flange, hollow radial spines, or cemented foreign bodies such as empty shells, coral debris, pebbles, or sand grains. Umbilicus large to reduced, sometimes closed. Aperture oblique, low and wide, without a siphonal canal, with a strongly arched basal margin and a columella callosity tending to obscure the umbilicus. Interior of shell porcelaneous. Operculum corneous, stout and ovate, with a lateral nucleus. Found below the low tide level, mostly in comparatively shallow water but also deeper to 700 m, on calm bottoms of sand and mud. The projecting shell periphery and attached foreign objects help to stabilize the shell and raise it off the soft substrate, allowing the animal to collect tiny detritus underneath or to rasp. Foot and operculum used for a leaping locomotion. Sexes separate. Larvae probably planktonic. Carrier shells are occasionally collected with other gastropod species by shrimp trawlers, and their shells are used in shellcraft (Ref. 349). |
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