Sigapatella novaezelandiae
Encyclopedia
Sigapatella novaezelandiae, common name the circular slipper limpet, is a species
of medium-sized sea snail
, a marine
gastropod molluscs in the family
Calyptraeidae
.
is often light violaceous. The shell is covered by a thin, fibrous, yellowish epidermis
. The interior of the shell is white, more or less stained or blotched with violet.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of medium-sized sea snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
, a marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
gastropod molluscs in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Calyptraeidae
Calyptraeidae
Calyptraeidae, common name the slipper snails or slipper limpets, cup-and-saucer snails, and Chinese hat snails are a family of small to medium-sized marine prosobranch gastropods...
.
Description
The size of an adult shell varies between 15 mm and 33 mm. The white or yellowish white shell is marked by growth lines ;The spireSpire (mollusc)
A spire is a descriptive term for part of the coiled shell of mollusks. The word is a convenient aid in describing shells, but it does not refer to a very precise part of shell anatomy: the spire consists of all of the whorls except for the body whorl...
is often light violaceous. The shell is covered by a thin, fibrous, yellowish epidermis
Epidermis
Epidermis may refer to:* Epidermis , in plants, the outermost layer of cells covering the leaves and young parts of a plant* Epidermis , the outermost layer of the skin of a human...
. The interior of the shell is white, more or less stained or blotched with violet.