Triviella ovulata

Triviella ovulata, common name "baby's toes", is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Triviidae, the trivias.

Triviella ovulata
baby's toes
A live individual of Triviella ovulata, head end towards the right
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Littorinimorpha
Superfamily:
Velutinoidea
Family:
Triviidae
Genus:
Triviella
Species:
T. ovulata
Binomial name
Triviella ovulata
(Lamarck, 1810)
Synonyms

Trivia ovulata (Lamarck, 1811)

Distribution

This snail is known around the South African coast from the Cape Peninsula to Coffee Bay in depths of 8–30 m. This species is endemic to the area.[1]

Description

Triviella ovulata has a plump, round, white to deep pink shell. In life the shell is usually completely covered with the white mantle, which is variably spotted with black.[2] It reaches a maximum size of 40 mm.

Ecology

This snail is usually found among colonial ascidians, on which it feeds. The snail first drills a hole in the wall of the colony, then eats its fill and finally lays its capsule-shaped egg cases in the resulting cavity. The black-spotted form of this animal resembles Mandela's nudibranch, Mandelia mirocornata, which may cause fish predators to avoid it.

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References
  1. LILTVED W.R. 2000. Cowries and their relatives of southern Africa ISBN 0-908420-89-7
  2. BRANCH, G.M., BRANCH, M.L, GRIFFITHS, C.L. and BECKLEY, L.E (2005): Two Oceans: a guide to the marine life of southern Africa ISBN 0-86486-672-0
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