Dear Harry et al.,

I have seen Nerita polita emerging out of sand at dusk, during low tide
at a northern beach in Okinawa, as well as at Heron Island, GBR
with Ken O'Gower of then Univ. of NSW long time ago.

He let me take photographs of the snail trail on sand that was
closed-loop-shaped one. That was 35 years ago and I suspect
that Ken might have published something on the behavior of the snail.

Masashi Yamaguchi
Faculty of Science, Univ. of the Ryukyus
Okinawa, Japan

----- Original Message -----
From: "Harry G. Lee" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2005 9:13 AM
Subject: Sand nerites


Dear Jan and Jan,

A close relative of Nerita polita, N. dorbignyana Récluz, 1841, has a
similar habit.

On March 10, 1973 I observed thousands of the latter emerging from, and
crawling on, the sand after sunset during a low tide along the SW shore of
Dissei, an island in the Dahlak Archipelago (Red Sea; Ethiopia).  The
shoreline is a patchwork of large boulders and short stretches of sand, and
many hundreds of snails were several meters from the nearest rock. Other
species of nerites (are these the epiliths?) occupied the rocky substrate
above the sand-line, where no N. dorbignyana was to be found.

Tom Eichhorst has just published a monograph on a taxonomically cohesive
little (subgeneric) group of nerites, Linnerita, of which these two taxa
are members.  I suspect this very un-nerite-like behavior is shared by
other members of the group.

Tom???

Harry


  At 06:18 AM 1/5/2005, you wrote:
>Hallo Paolo
>The ecology of Nerita polita is different from that of other epilithic
>nerites.  At least this is my impression from fieldwork on Rodrigues in the
>Indian Ocean.  I found N. polita living buried just below the surface in
>sand, adjacent to an embedded rock.  Maybe it is attached to the rock below
>the surface.  At low tide the N. polita come to the surface and it seems
>they sit there for a while before reburying before the tide comes in.  This
>is what I have deduced must happen - I did not sit it out and watch them
>for
>the duration!
>Jan Light
>Godalming, England
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Paolo G. Albano" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2005 12:19 PM
>
>
>>During my trip to the Maldives in August 2004, I
>>observed a strange fact which I here report hoping
>>someone can help me explaining it.
>>
>>1. I found a live Drupa lobata with its aperture
>>upwards on sand near hard substrates,  It was
>>motionless.  Put in acquarium it reacted and allowed
>>photography of the animal.
>>
>>2. A live nerita polita stranded on the beach, but
>>when put in a small box with seawater it promptly was
>>resurrected and moved around actively.
>>
>>They seemed dead (and they would have certainly died
>>in the conditions they were found) but they were not.
>>
>>Any ideas?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Paolo

Harry G. Lee
Suite 500
1801 Barrs St.
Jacksonville, FL 32204
USA
Voice: 904-384-6419
Fax: 904-388-6750
<[log in to unmask]>
Visit the Jacksonville Shell Club Home Page at:
www.jaxshells.org

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