Southwest Florida Shells

by José H. Leal

Family Truncatellidae

Truncatella caribaeensis

(Reeve, 1842)

Caribbean Truncatella

Shell size to 10 mm; shell elongate, with six rounded whorls each with 17-40 axial ribs. Suture indistinct. Color yellowish-white to brownish. thinner outer lip that never looks "doubled." Found in mangrove litter above high-tide line. Truncatellas derive from marine ancestors and have adapted to live almost completely independently from the marine environment, except for the moment of fertilization, when male meets female in seawater. They live very close to the sea but above the high-water line, usually in mangrove areas, and mostly under plant debris and other drift materials.