Sep 23, 2024
#2514 - Cantharidus opalus - Opal Top Shell
From a large pile of seashells that built up on the eastern side of the Miramar Peninsula.
AKA Cantharidus iris, opalus biangulatus, opalus cannoni and zealandicus, Trochus acuminatus and iris, and Limax opalus. That last binomial is from 1784, which may explain why they gave it the same generic as a common slug. In te reo Māori matangongore.
A endemic Trochid to New Zealand, where it lives in kelp beds down to about 15m.
Miramar Peninsula, Wellington, New Zealand
