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| shelled snails text index | photo index |
| Phylum Mollusca > Class Gastropoda > Family Neritidae |
| Lined
nerite snail Nerita articulata Family Neritidae updated Oct 10 Where seen? This snail in a pin-striped suit is commonly seen in mangroves, often in large numbers. It may also be seen on rocky shores especially those near mangroves, on many of our shores. The study by Tan & Clements (2008) found this snail on mangrove tree trunks and roots, monsoon canal walls, muddy banks, and rocky areas in or near mangroves. It is also known as Nerita lineata or N. balteata. Sites included many mainland shores, as well as Pulau Ubin and Pulau Semakau. Features: 2-3cm. Shell sturdy and rounded. Colour beige, grey or pinkish with fine, spiralling black ribs. The flat underside is white, sometimes with yellow patches. There are small 'teeth' at the shell opening. Operculum with is evenly covered with tiny bumps. The animal has fine black lines and long thin black tentacles. What does it eat? It grazes on algae. It appears to return to the same spot after a feeding bout. How it does this is not known, but possibly, it lays down a mucus trail that it follows back to its resting spot. According to Tan & Clements, the Lined nerite is probably the most widely distributed of our nerites. Although also commonly seen on seawalls, it is most abundant in monsoon canals walls and mangrove trees, sometimes numbering in the hundreds in a single location. |
 Tuas, May 07  Underside. |
 Lim Chu Kang, Apr 09 |
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 Closeup of shell opening and operculum. |
Lined nerite snails on Singapore shores
 Changi, May 08  |
 Changi, Jun 08  |
 Pulau Sarimbun, May 05  |
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