Island endemics – land snail: Tudora megacheilos

Curaçao has no fewer than 31 species of land snails, 28 of which are native, meaning they are native to the area and haven’t been imported, for example, with plants and bags of soil from abroad. One of the most striking and well-known species is the Tudora megacheilos, the snails that suddenly appear on house walls or fences and can remain there for days, sometimes weeks, stuck to the material.

Invasives: Giant African snail

Giant African snails are invasive species that have been introduced and established on the islands of Bonaire and Curaçao.

Shells: Mouse cone

The family of Conidae or Cone snails as it is called in English contains an enormous variety of genera and species. Meet the Mouse cone.

Shells: White Hoof Shell

One of the most fun shells to look for during treasure hunts is what we lovably call the Smurf hats, because of the shape and color of the shells.

Shells: Zebra Nerite

This small shell called the Zebra Nerite does not grow larger than 11 millimetres in diameter and is not always easy to find on the coasts of our islands

Shrubs and trunks full of shells

Anyone who walks in the mondi of Jan Thiel on Curaçao during the dry season, and other locations as well, can regularly come across a strange phenomenon; trees, grasses and shrubs that are completely covered with the white Kokolishi di kalakuna (Cerion uva).

Shells: Spiny oysters

Of course, you can also find shells of bivalves such as oysters on the beaches in the ABC-islands. And one of the families you can encounter is the genus of the Spiny Oysters.

Shells: Atlantic dove snail

A common shell found on beaches on the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.

Shells: Caribbean Four-tooth Nerite

Marine snails which are part of the Nerite family often have small teethlike protrusions which can often be found on the mouth plate (columella fold), the calcerous part at the opening at the bottom of the shell where the slug’s body moves to the outside.

Shells: Common purple snail

In 1758 Linnaeus gave the scientific name Janthina janthina to a tiny and very delicate purple / blue snail shell and its snail inhabitant.

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