Latiaxis mawae Nicolay, 1984 - Mawe's latiaxis snail (abapertural view) (public display, Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum, Sanibel Island, Florida, USA)

The gastropods (snails & slugs) are a group of molluscs that occupy marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. Most gastropods have a calcareous external shell (the snails). Some lack a shell completely, or have reduced internal shells (the slugs & sea slugs & pteropods). Most members of the Gastropoda are marine. Most marine snails are herbivores (algae grazers) or predators/carnivores.

The Mawe's latiaxis snail shown above is part of the Japanese Province: "Sandwiched between the cold-waters of northern Japan and the warmer, more southerly areas of Okinawa and Taiwan is the rather isolated Japanese Province containing such endemic species as the noble scallop, Japanese wonder shell and many latiaxis snails. This temperate-water area supports about 1,500 species, including the famous Japanese pearl oyster." [info. from museum signage]

Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Neogastropoda, Muricidae

Locality: unrecorded/undisclosed/unspecified

More info. at: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latiaxis" rel="nofollow">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latiaxis</a> and