Superfamily Neritoidea Subfamily Neritinae Rank Species | Tribe Theodoxini | |
 | ||
Similar Clithon, Nerita chamaeleon, Batillaria zonalis, Nerita undata, Nerita balteata | ||
Clithon oualaniense is a species of brackish water snail with an operculum, a nerite. It is an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Neritidae, the nerites.
Contents
Distribution
This species occurs in Indo-Pacific region: Nansei-shoto in Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Jawa in Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Queensland in Australia India and Ceylon. It also occurs in American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Description
The coloration pattern on the shell is very variable.
Ecology
Clithon oualaniense is an eurybiotic species. It inhabits soft bottoms of interdidal habitats. It can occur in high density, for example 347 snails per m² was recorded, that correspond to the biomass of 30.6 g per m². It also inhabits sea grass bed with Zostera japonica. The activity of Clithon oualaniense is diurnal; snails are active during the daytime and inactive at night. It bury itself into the mud, when the tide is high, probably to avoid water predators. They are on the surface feeding and mating when the tide is low.
Clithon oualaniense is herbivorous, feeding of microalgae and on detritus.