Clithon oualaniense
Species of gastropod
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clithon oualaniense[3] is a species of brackish water[4] snail with an operculum, a nerite. It is an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Neritidae, the nerites.
| Clithon oualaniense | |
|---|---|
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| Live Clithon oualaniense in situ | |
_-_Neritidae_-_Mollusc_shell.jpeg) | |
| Clithon oualaniense shells | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Order: | Cycloneritida |
| Family: | Neritidae |
| Genus: | Clithon |
| Species: | C. oualaniense |
| Binomial name | |
| Clithon oualaniense | |
| Synonyms[3] | |
|
Neritina oualaniensis Lesson, 1831 | |
Distribution
This species occurs in Indo-Pacific region: Nansei-shoto in Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Jawa in Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Queensland in Australia[1] India[5] and Ceylon.[4] It also occurs in American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.[1]
Description
The coloration pattern on the shell is very variable.[4][6]
Ecology
Clithon oualaniense is a eurybiotic species.[7] It inhabits soft bottoms of intertidal habitats.[7] It can occur in high density, for example 347 snails per m² was recorded, that correspond to the biomass of 30.6 g per m².[7] It also inhabits sea grass bed with Zostera japonica.[8] The activity of Clithon oualaniense is diurnal; snails are active during the daytime and inactive at night.[8] It bury itself into the mud, when the tide is high, probably to avoid water predators.[9] They are on the surface feeding and mating when the tide is low.[9]
Clithon oualaniense is herbivorous, feeding of microalgae and on detritus.[8]
