Project Description

Painted Top-shell

Scientific name:  Calliostoma zizyphinum
Size: Up to 3cm across the shell
Colour: White or cream, with pink stripes
Habitat: Rocky shores, under rocks or in rockpools
Facts:

  • They have a very distinctive sharply-pointed, cone-shaped shell.
  • They eat small plants and animals by scraping them off the rocks while crawling along them.
  • They lay their eggs in long, jelly-like strings.
  • They clean their shell by wiping it with their foot.

Photo credit: Paul Naylor
www.marinephoto.co.uk