Neverita duplicata

Distribution

This is a common western Atlantic species. It is found from Massachusetts and other parts of New England, south to Florida and other states on the Gulf of Mexico, south to Honduras.

Description

The shell has a flattened globular shape, and reaches about 88 to 90 millimetres (3.5 to 3.5 in) in maximum dimension. The color of the shell is variable, but is often a greyish brown. The central apex of the shell is often a dark blue in fresh shells, which can make the shell somewhat resemble an eye. On the underside, there is a large brown callus which partly blocks the umbilicus of the shell.

The maximum recorded shell length is 82 mm.

Habitat

This moon snail is found on sandy shores just below the low tide line. In most of its range, the empty shell is very commonly washed up on beaches, as also is the operculum and the sand collar.

The minimum recorded depth for this species is 0 m; the maximum recorded depth is 58 m.

Feeding habits

The shark eye (like all moon snails) is predatory, feeding mainly on bivalves buried in the sand. This snail drills a neat "countersunk" circular hole through the shell of its prey species, and then feeds on the soft tissue within.