-+Moon+Snail

The Naticidae or the more common name, the Moon Snail is a family of snails that vary from very tiny to large sized predatory sea snails. Scientist believe there are anywhere from 260-300 recent species in the moon snail family. This family is thought to have originated from the early jurassic stage. Most of these snails are found in tropical regions, but they are also found in just about any type of water system. They live on sandy substrates at just about any depth of the ocean. They feed mostly on bivalves such as clams. Snails will attack any shelled mollusk including other moon snails. The snail feeds by surrounding the shell and using its radula and acid secretion to bore a hole through the shell and then eats the flesh. During mating season the female moon snail lays an egg mass which includes sand and mucus. These are known to wash up on sandy beachs a lot. By: Jon