Nerita tessellata, sometimes known as the checkered nerite, is a species of tropical sea snail with a gill and an operculum, a nerite, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Neritidae, the nerites.
| Nerita tessellata | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Neritimorpha |
| Order: | Cycloneritida |
| Family: | Neritidae |
| Genus: | Nerita |
| Species: | N. tessellata
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| Binomial name | |
| Nerita tessellata | |
| Synonyms[6] | |
Distribution
editThis nerite occurs on the shores of the Western Atlantic Ocean including Florida, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, the West Indies and Brazil.[6]
Habitat
editThis species lives high up in the intertidal zone on rocks.
Description
editThe shell of this nerite can be as large as 25 mm. The background shell color is black, usually with white markings. Fairly often the white markings are regularly spaced, and make the shell look checkered or tesselated (tiled), hence the specific name of this species.
References
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- ^ Gmelin J. F. (1791). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae. Editio decima tertia. Systema Naturae, 13th ed., vol. 1(6): 3021-3910. Lipsiae.
- ^ Röding P. F. (1798). Museum Boltenianum. viii + 199 pp. Hamburg.
- ^ (in German) Pfeiffer L. (1840). "Uebersicht der im Januar, Februar und März 1839 auf Cuba gesammelten Mollusken". Archiv für Naturgeschichte 6(1): 250-261.
- ^ Mörch O. A. L. (1852). Catalogus Conchyliorum quae Reliquit D. Alphonso d'Aguirra & Gadea Comes de Yoldi. Fasciculus Primus. [vi] + 170 pp. Hafniae.
- ^ Reeve L. (1855). "Monograph of the genus Nerita". Conchologia Iconica 9: pls. 1-19
- ^ a b "Nerita tessellata Gmelin, 1791". Malacolog Version 4.1.1. A Database of Western Atlantic Marine Mollusca, accessed 15 June 2010.