DSC_4534 Mud snail, or titiko (Amphibola crenata) habitat. These snails are found in their thousands on tidal mudflats throughout New Zealand. Though living in a marine environment, they are actually pulmonates (air breathing) and posses a pallial lung rather than gills. They live for 12 years or more, and were eaten in large quantities by early Maori. Aramoana *
DSC_3388 Ear snail (Marinula filholi) small, and oval in outline, with a smooth unsculptured surface. Pale greyish to to tan or red brown. Aperture is large and ear-shaped, the columella has three distinct teeth, the upper tooth strongest and the lowest is weakest. Occurs under rocks and debris around the high tide mark on sheltered to semi-exposed shores. Island Bay *
DSC_3393 Ear shells (dorsal and ventral pairs from top to bottom). Banded ear snail (Pleuroloba costellaris) from Havelock top, and Ear snail (Marinula filholi) from Island Bay bottom *
