Chlorodiloma odontis

Lore & Background

The shell of Chlorodiloma odontis is globose-conic and more or less depressed, imperforate or very narrowly perforate. Its sculpture is spirally finely striate, with striae becoming obsolete on the body whorl. The sharp incremental striae are microscopic. The apical whorls are white and eroded, while the remainder is covered with a regular, elegant, minute reticulation formed by the intersection at right angles of two sets of obliquely descending black or bluish lines. The body whorl is subangulate at the periphery. The thin outer lip is acute, inside green, and beautifully iridescent. The arcuate columella is not dentate and is pearly edged. The umbilico-columellar area is vivid pea-green.

Reader's Guide

The checkered top shell is a marine species endemic to Australia, recorded from South Australia, Tasmania, and Victoria. Its shell, ranging from 10 mm to 20 mm, displays a distinctive reticulate pattern of black or bluish lines on a white-eroded apex. The interior of the outer lip is green and iridescent, and the columella is pearly edged with a vivid pea-green umbilico-columellar area. The species belongs to the family Trochidae, the top snails, and its description includes details of sculpture, color, and morphology that have been documented in multiple references from the 19th and 20th centuries, including works by Wood, Adams, Tenison-Woods, and Cotton. No further ecological or behavioral information is provided in the source article.

Did You Know?

• The shell size varies between 10 mm and 20 mm.
• The outer lip is thin, acute, and inside green and beautifully iridescent.