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Austrocochlea porcata
These small molluscs were conical but slightly rounded with a sharp apex. Thy had oblique black an white stripes with the stripes being of varying thickness as an be seen in pic 3, which is a variant.
Spotted these in rock pools in a tidal area - harbour.
These are common and distributed along the eastern and southern Australian coast.
It is reported that at certain times of the year, the algae that the snails eat produce a dark substance that is excreted into the snail's shell giving it the coloured stripes. It is not known if the number of bands correspond to the age of the snail.
Family: Trochidae
Spotted on Dec 27, 2016
Submitted on Jan 1, 2017
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