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Additional Photos
underside
shell & gizzard plates
egg mass
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GALLERY
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Philine pittmani Gonzales & Gosliner, 2014
Maximum size: 13.5 mm.
Identification:
This
is
a
slender species that has a translucent cream body flecked
with white. The shell has a broad aperture that "flares" apically and
lacks spiral striae. The gizzard plates are massive with the largest
equaling the shell in length.
Natural history:
Philine pittmani is
a moderately rare burrowing species found along the edges of sand
basins and in Halimeda kanaloana
beds at depths of 9-15 m (30-49 ft). It lays a lozenge-shaped to
spherical,
white egg mass containing a tangled egg string. The mass has a sticky
surface and acquires a coating of strongly adherent sand. Hatching
occurs in 5-6 days in the laboratory.
Distribution:
Maui, Oahu, Kauai and Midway: possibly widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific.
Taxonomic notes:
Live
animals
were
first recorded in Hawaii from Black Rock, Maui by CP on
Oct. 17, 1995. Shells were found by CP in sand samples from Midway
Atoll
provided by PF in 1993.
Photo: CP:
Makena Landing, Maui; Aug. 12, 2002.
Observations and comments:
Note
1: ( )
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