Snails (Gastropoda)

Snails are a very successful group of molluscs which also invaded the land. In the Maastricht Chalks we of course only find shells of marine snails. Mostly snails have shells of aragonite, which dissolves easily in water: this is why we only find external moulds of shells or internal moulds (steinkerns) showing internal structures. A very interesting species is the voracious Natica, which bores a hole into other shells (even in its relatives !) through which they extract the prey by sucking. Particularly common are turret-snails, Turritella. home | back