Vexillum regina (queen miter snail) 2

Description:

Description: Vexillum regina (Sowerby, 1828) - queen miter snail shell, apertural view (6.2 cm tall), modern (latest Holocene). The queen miter snail (Vexillum regina) is spectacularly colored with white, orange, and dark brown stripes (the species does vary in coloration, however). It is a modern, tropical marine gastropod from the western Pacific Basin. Vexillum is a predatory snail that secretes toxins to immobilize & kill prey. Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gatropoda, Neogastropoda, Volutoidea, Costellariidae The gastropods (snails & slugs) are a group of molluscs that occupy marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. Most gastropods have a calcareous external shell (the snails). Some lack a shell completely, or have reduced internal shells (the slugs & sea slugs & pteropods). Most members of the Gastropoda are marine. Most marine snails are herbivores (algae grazers) or predators/carnivores. Date: 29 April 2007, 22:33. Source: Vexillum regina (queen miter snail) 2. Author: James St. John.