Camitia rotellina

Lore & Background

The shell of Camitia rotellina is discoidal, depressed, smooth, and shining, and is covered-perforate. Under a lens, the six whorls are very minutely, obliquely striate. The earliest whorls are whitish and spirally obsoletely sulcate, while the remainder are pale flesh-colored, ornamented with a subsutural linear zone and oblique brown spots. The body whorl is dilated, obtuse in the middle, spirally trilineate (one line above, two at periphery), and somewhat convex beneath, with two zones of brown spots. The aperture is transverse and scarcely sulcate within. The columella is nearly horizontal, twisted above, and truncate beneath. The columellar callus forms a coating to the extremely oblique umbilicus.

Reader's Guide

Camitia rotellina is a species within the family Trochidae, commonly known as top snails. Its shell characteristics, such as the discoidal shape, smooth surface, and distinct color patterns with brown spots and zones, are typical of the family. The species occurs in marine waters off Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands, the East China Sea, and the Philippines. The shell length ranges from 10 mm to 20 mm. The columellar callus coating the extremely oblique umbilicus is a notable structural feature. The species has been referenced in works by Hedley (1908), Habe (1964), and Higo, Callomon & Goto (1999), indicating its inclusion in regional malacological studies. Its presence in the Western Pacific and East China Sea contributes to the biodiversity of trochid gastropods in those areas.

Did You Know?

• The shell length of Camitia rotellina varies between 10 mm and 20 mm.
• The shell has six whorls that are very minutely, obliquely striate under a lens.
• The body whorl is spirally trilineate, with one line above and two at the periphery.