2026 · Photo: Boaz Liebes
Diniatys dentifer
Philippines · Indo Pacific - South China Sea
- Size
- 5–8 mm · max 12 mm
- Depth
- 0–29 m
- Native range
- Indo-West Pacific, from Madagascar to Japan, Hawaii and the Tuamotus
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Description
A minute haminoeid bubble snail with a thin external shell, named 'tooth-bearing' for the tooth-like projection at the base of the columella. In Hawaii it is one of the most common haminoeids; it lays spherical pale pink egg masses.
Share link: https://seaslugs.org.il/species/diniatys-dentifer-phillipines-indo-pacific-south-china-sea/
Identification
Shell about 5 mm, white to transparent, with faint spiral grooves only near the top and bottom. Soft body translucent white to olive or light brown, densely speckled green to brown with smaller white spots, and with a band of dark flecks across the eye region. Some animals are pinkish.
Similar species
Diniatys monodonta is very similar but has a less inflated shell; the columellar tooth is hard to see in living animals.
Habitat & diet
Habitat
Shallow reefs, rocky areas, sand-rubble and Halimeda beds, from protected to exposed sites; from under 1 m to about 29 m.
Food
Blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) such as Lyngbya.