These rather delicate and beautifully fig-shaped shells are characterized by their flattened spire and a very large body whorl that covers most of the preceding whorls. The top of the spire shows sutures that are definitely incised. 

 

The Ficus snail has a very large, angular foot and no operculum. Most of its shell can be covered by the two lobes of its mantle. As shown in the lower photo of a live Ficus snail, the transparent mantle is partially pulled over the shell and visible along the edges. The snails have a large head, with two long tentacles, a very long proboscis, and a long siphon. These molluscs are found in sands of warm water regions, where they feed on detritus and small organisms that can be grasped by the denticles of the tongue (radula).

 

Classification

Class: Gastropoda

Clade: Littorinimorpha

Superfamily: Ficoidea

Family: Ficidae

 

Single Genus

• Genus: Ficus (Pyrula)

Ficus eospila (Péron-Lesueur, 1807)
Spotted Fig Snail
(in Wilson, 1993)

FICUS SNAIL MORPHOLOGY:

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