Blue Top Snail
Author: Alisha Carey
Common name: Blue Top Snail, Ribbed Top Snail
Scientific name: Calliostoma ligatum (formerly Calliostoma costatum)
Size range: up to 2.5 cm (1 inch) in diameter
Identifying Features: The blue top snail (Calliostoma ligatum) is part of the Callistomatidae family. It has a brown shell with tan to orange spirals. Its inner layer its pearly blue, and the foot of the snail is orange. When the outer layer of the shell is worn away the top of the shell (or the whole shell) may also look blue which is why it is called a blue top snail.
Habitat: Blue Top Snails are found in tide pools or up to 30 meters deep in the ocean. They can be found from Alaska to California. Blue top snails keep to rocky areas and kelp beds.
Food: C. ligatum eat a variety of algae and kelp. It eats by using its radula teeth (a ribbon with rasping teeth.)
Predators: The Blue Top snail protects itself by hiding within its shell. Some of their predators include shore birds, fish, crabs and other snails.
Life Cycle: In general, snails are considered sexually mature by the time they are one year old. The females lay a string of eggs and the male releases a cloud of sperm into the water. Once the eggs are fertilized they go through a number of stages including the swimming veliger larva. They then settle on the ocean floor to begin their life as benthic snails.
Photos by D. Young
References:
Cowles, Dave (2004). Retrieved May 17 th 2012 from http://www.wallawalla.edu/academics/departments/biology/rosario/inverts/Mollusca/Gastropoda/Prosobranchia/Order_Archaegastropoda/Suborder_Trochina/Trochidae/Calliostoma_ligatum.html
Lamb, Andy and Hanby, Bernard P. 2006. Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest. Harbour Publishing, British Columbia: 30
Snails. Retrieved May 17th 2012 from http://library.thinkquest.org/J001418/snail.html