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| shelled snails text index | photo index |
| Phylum Mollusca > Class Gastropoda > Family Neritidae |
| Similar
nerite snails How to tell them apart? updated Oct 08 |
| These snails with thick round shells all belong to the Family Neritidae. Each species may come in a wide variety of patterns and colours, so they can't be distinguished by shell patterns and colours alone. Their shell structures look very similar. Here's how to roughly tell apart some of the most similar looking nerites. Positive identification, however, can only be made by looking at internal features of the shell and animal. |
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Chameleon
nerite snail
Nerita chamaeleon |
Waved
nerite snail
Nerita undata |
Scaled
nerite snail
Nerita histrio |
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Shell more flattened at the shell whorl
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Shell more pointed at the shell whorl
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Shell more flattend at the shell whorl
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Thicker
ribs
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Smooth
finer ribs
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Rougher
texture of shell
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Underside
may have some ridges.
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Underside
may be wrinkled
or have some ridges. |
Underside
smooth.
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A
few tiny parallel ridges
at the shell opening. |
3-4
- 'teeth' at the shell opening,
side tooth rather squarish. |
A
few tiny teeth at the shell opening with reddish stain.
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Sometimes
one large 'tooth'
at outer lip. |
Sometimes
one large 'tooth'
at outer lip. |
No
large 'tooth' at outer lip.
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