The Stellaria genus, in this family, is notable for shells occurring in fantastic radiating sunburst shapes, or stars, and several species exhibit particularly long spines. Molluscs in the Tugurium and Xenophora genera typically decorate their shell by selectively cementing small scrap shells on their dorsal surface. Stripped of these decorations, the latter shells are similar in form to star shell and other species in the Trochacea superfamily. Identifying characteristics of Xenophoridae are an operculum with nucleus off-centered, and a shell interior that is not nacreous (unlike the Trochidae). The family has few species. All are tropical in distribution.
Classification
Major Genera
- Genus: Stellaria
- Genus: Tugurium
- Genus: Xenophora
Stellaria
solaris (Linnaeus, 1767)
Sunburst Carrier
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MOLLUSC IN ACTION:
| Xenophora cerea (attaching scrap shells) |
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