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| shelled snails text index | photo index |
| Phylum Mollusca > Class Gastropoda > Family Muricidae |
| Dark
drill Semiricinula fusca Family Muricidae updated Aug 2020 Where seen? This small drill is sometimes seen on large boulders on some of our shores. 'Fuscus' means dusky, dark or swarthy, probably referring to the dark coloured shell opening. According to Tan, it has a patchy distribution in Singapore but can be common where it occurs. It is also known as Morula fusca. Features: 2-3cm. Shell thick with squarish bumps. Shell opening is wide and usually dark to dark purple. One of the identifying features is its yellow foot. |
 Chek Jawa, May 05 |
 Chek Jawa, May 05 |
 Chek Jawa, May 05 |
| What does it eat? According to
Brian Ong's study, those on St. John's Island were found to eat false
limpets: Siphonaria javanica and Siphonaria guamensis.
They also rarely ate small bivalves and barnacles. In Brian's study,
found that the snail drills a hole through the shell of the false
limpet, or by slipping its proboscis under the shell of the false
limpet. Brian found that they were not selective about the size of
their prey. Baby drills: This snail lays stalked, globular egg cases. Tiny crawling juvenile snails emerge from these egg cases. |
*Species are difficult to positively identify without close examination.
On this website, they are grouped by external features for convenience of display.
| Dark drills on Singapore shores |
On wildsingapore
flickr
|
| Other sightings on Singapore shores |
 Photo shared by Brian Ong. |
 Photo shared by Brian Ong. |
 Hole drilled into a false limpet, by the drill. Photo shared by Brian Ong. |
| Acknowlegement With grateful thanks to Brian Ong for identification and information about these fascinating snails. Links
References
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