Black Turban

Description:

Most adult individuals of this species have shells which are 20 to 40 mm (or about an inch, to an inch and three quarters) in diameter. Empty shells of this species are very often used by hermit crabs, especially Pagurus samuelis. In 1971 a new sense organ was discovered in this marine snail. Chemoreceptor organs were found near the base on the border of the leaflets of the ctenidium (comb-like respiratory gills), one on each leaflet. They form a light swelling near the base of the leaflet with a pocket lying within the swelling. Together they are termed a "bursicle

Habitat:

The species is found in the rocky intertidal zone, where these snails graze on algae, microscopic films, and wrack. Small juveniles are found mostly under rocks and among coarse sands.

Notes:

Tegula funebralis is sexually dimorphic, not hermaphroditic. These snails may live as long as twenty or thirty years. When fleeing a predator on a sloping substrate, the snail may simply detach itself and thus it will roll or drop away