The largest of 5 species of moon snails that live in this area.
They spend most of their time plowing through the sand in search of food, mostly clams. Look for lumps on the beach where the sand looks like it is “cracking” open.
They eat clams by surrounding them with their gushy foot, then drilling a hole in the clam’s shell. Moon snails have a straw-like tube to slurp up the clam from inside its shell. Look for shells that have a perfectly round hole in them.
Moon snails create an egg sand “collar” that looks like a broken rubbery pot on the beach. See if you can find some on the beach!
Moon snails are huge, but can pull into their shells and close a little brown “door” to keep them safe from animals that prey on them. The brown door is called an operculum and sometimes you will find them on the beach.
For more images and information – See WT article Supersnail! Cortez Museum
Pacific Wonder Tracker 