Jewelled Top Snail

Description:

Also known as the purple-ring topsnail, blue-ring topsnail has gills and an operculum. It is a medium sized marine gastropod living in kelp forests.

Habitat:

Sub-littoral zone of the Pacific coast. This one was found of Vancouver Island. This top shell can be found in the littoral zone from Isla San Geronimo, Baja California, north to Forrester Island, Alaska.(MOIA)

Notes:

This one was photographed in a tank at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre which had been prepared for a Marine Invertebrate class in the public education program. This snail lives mid-stipe in the kelp, sharing its high-rise home with other top snails above and below (channeled top snails live up in the canopy; blue top snails live close to the bottom). Each species knows its proper place, and if one gets knocked off, it climbs back up to its proper spot. (MOIA)