Callistoma ligatum, Blue Topsnail





Calliostoma ligatum			THE RACE ROCKS TAXONOMY

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Mollusca
Class	Gastropoda
Subclass	Prosobranchia
Order	Archaeogastropoda
Family	Calliostomatidae
Genus	Calliostoma
Species	ligatum
Common Name:	Blue top snail

	Calliostoma ligatum surrounded by Epiactis or brooding anemone
	The divers turned over a painted star and found a topsnail being eaten.
	In this image, the topsnail is grazing on bryozoans that grow on the kelp blades.

Size: To 1"(25mm)diameter

Range: Northern B.C. South to California. This species is very common subtidally and intertidally at Race Rocks. It is common in rocky areas and kelp beds to 100'(30m) and deeper, among algae and under rocks.

At RaceRocks it is frequently used as a dwelling by small hermit crabs.

Food: Omnivorous feeding on hydroids, bryozoans, detritus and diatoms.This common and abundant species also eats compound tuncates and sponges

Comments:. It exhibits an escape response to the ochre sea star Pisaster ochraceus .

This file is provided as part of a collaborative effort by the students of Lester B. Pearson College

Dec. 2002

Carmen Zana (PC yr29)

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Calliostoma ligatum