Ida's Miter
Mitra idae
(1-2,4-6,8: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 3: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos / 7: Monastery Beach, Carmel-By-The-Sea)
Kellet's Whelk
Kelletia kelletii
(1,4: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos / 2-3,6-8: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 5: Golf Ball Drop Off, Santa Cruz Island)
Like many snails, whelks have an operculum - a hard plate which acts like a door when the snail is pulled inside its shell. It fluoresces under blue light. (1: Golf Ball Drop Off, Santa Cruz Island / 2: San Carlos Beach, Monterey)
Kellet's whelks lay eggs in the late spring. They look kind of like oyster crackers:
(1-2: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 3-4: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos)
Leafy Hornmouth
Ceratostoma foliatum
(1-6,8: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 7: Monterey State Beach, Monterey)
These are leafy hornmouth egg cases, also visible in the 5th photo above (a leafy hornmouth orgy) and 6th photo (a leafy hornmouth that moved too slowly during an orgy and got laid on).
(1-6: San Carlos Beach, Monterey)
The egg cases fluoresce under UV light:
(1: San Carlos Beach, Monterey)
Lewis's Moon Snail
Polinices lewisii
(1: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 2: Monterey State Beach, Monterey / 3-6: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos / 7-8: Monastery Beach, Carmel-By-The-Sea)
The foot is huge relative to the shell. These cruise along underneath the sand, often with just their eyes, snout, and shell visible:
(1: Monterey State Beach, Monterey)
Moon snails lay their eggs in a collar shape. The third picture shows a snail laying eggs.
(1,3: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 2: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos)
Lurid Rocksnail
Ocinebrina lurida
(1: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 2: Monterey State Beach, Monterey / 3-4: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos)
Money Wentletrap
Epitonium indianorum
(1-2: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 3: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos)
Norris's Top SnailNorrisia norrisi
(1: Eel Point, San Clemente Island)
Olive Snail
Olivella biplicata
(1-2,4,6-7: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 3,5,8: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos)
In the first picture, the snail on the right has extended its mantle all the way around its shell. That's why olive snail shells are shiny, compared with shells where the snail stays on the bottom. You can see the mantle retracting in the second photo.
These are often found in large numbers in the sand just past the surf zone: (1: San Carlos Beach, Monterey)
Painted Spindle
Aptyxis luteopictus
(1-4: San Carlos Beach, Monterey)
These are pretty tiny.
Pear-Shaped Marginella
Granulina margaritula
(1: San Carlos Beach, Monterey)
Extremely small; this one is only 2 mm (1/10") long.
Red Top Snail
Pomaulax gibberosa
(1-3,6-8: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 4-5: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos)
Below it in the first picture is a dark dwarf turban and a tube worm.
This is what it looks like underneath: (1: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos)
Close-up of its head: (1: San Carlos Beach, Monterey)
Scaled Wormsnail
Serpulorbis squamigerus
(1,3,5: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos / 3,4,8: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 6-7: Lovers Point, Monterey)
Slipper Snail
Crepidula adunca
(1,5-6: San Carlos Beach, Monterey / 2-4: Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos)
These are the smaller oblong shells on top of the larger snails.
Striped Barrel ShellRictaxis punctocaelatus
(1-2: San Carlos Beach, Monterey)
Three-Colored Top ShellCalliostoma tricolor
(1-2: San Carlos Beach, Monterey)
Wavy Turban Snail
Lithopoma undosum
(1: Starlight, Santa Catalina Island / 2-3: Ship Rock, Santa Catalina Island / 4-5: Indian Rock, Santa Catalina Island)
Western Lean Nassa
Hima mendica
(1-5: Monterey State Beach, Monterey)
These smallish snails are scavengers. In the third photo, they're picking a crab carcass clean.
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