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Additional Photos
underside
pale
no dark brown
young
shell
egg mass
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GALLERY
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Haloa crocata (Pease, 1860)
Maximum size: 23 mm.
Identification:
This
species
has
a
translucent, straw-colored shell with fine, wavy
spiral striae. The animal is cream
blotched with olive and brown. Dark brown spots, orange-brown spots and
white flecks show through the shell but, in older animals, the
shell becomes thicker and darker
partially obscuring the underlying pattern. There is a band of darker
blotches
between the eye spots on top of the head. Rarely, dark spots may be
lacking.
Natural history:
Haloa crocata
is one of the most common haminoeids in Hawaii. It can be found in
mixed and rocky habitats from < 1 to 8 m (< 3 to 26 ft) but is
most common at shallower depths. It occurs in highly protected to
highly exposed locations but is most common in protected areas. It is
only occasionally found in Halimeda
kanaloana beds. Nocturnally active, it is often associated with
patches of the blue green algae Lygbia
on which it probably feeds. According to Kohn (1959) it's the most common species eaten by the molluscivorous cone, Conus pennaceus. The elongate egg mass is cream to
greenish-yellow and contains a "slinky like" egg string. It's attached
via
an adhesive surface and usually acquires a coating of
sand or detritus in the field. It typically hatches in about three days
in the laboratory.
Distribution:
Big Island, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Niihau and Midway: widely distributed in
the Indo-Pacific.
Taxonomic notes:
This
is
the
species
listed in Kay, 1979, Morris, 1974 and Tinker, 1958 as Haminoea
crocata.
It's probably also listed in Kay, 1979 as H. galba. Shells at the Bishop Museum attributed to Haminoea adamsii Dunker, 1862 and Haminoea galba, Pease, 1861b appear to be this species. Haminea sandwichensis Sowerby,
1868 may also be a synonym (Kay, 1979). It's probably listed in Edmondson, 1946, as H. crocata, H. adamsii and H. sandwichensis. It's illustrated in Johnson, 1982 as "Haminoea sp.". It's listed as Haminoea sp. 1 in Severns, 2011. Edmondson, 1946, lists it as both H. crocata and H. galba. It was first reported
from Hawaii in Pease,
1860 (as Haminea crocata). The animals and egg masses listed as Bulla sp. in Ostergaard, 1950 were probably this species, instead.
Photo: CP: about 20
mm: Hekili Point, Maui; Nov. 26, 2007.
Observations and comments:
Note
1: ( )
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