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Key:  Family Calyptraeidae (slipper shells)Phylum MolluscaClass Gastropoda
 Subclass
Prosobranchia
 Order Mesogastropoda
 Suborder Taenioglossa
 Taken primarily from  Kozloff,
1987, 1996
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taxonomic level:
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| 1a | Shell conical, almost circular in outline,
with a spiral septum
(shelf) the free edge of which is twisted | Calyptraeea fastigiata Gould, 1846
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| 1b | Shell usually cap-shaped (sometimes nearly conical),
generally not
completely circular in outline and often slightly irregular; with a
simple
septum | 2 |  
| 2a | Septum attached more broadly on one side (the left
side, as the aperture
faces the observer and the shelf is uppermost), so that part of it
projects
like a tongue | Crepidula dorsata (Broderip, 1834)
 |  
| 2b | Septum attached to about the same extent on both sides,
its free margin
therefore nearly straight | 3 |  
| 3a | Shell definitely arched (often higher than wide), the
apex prominent
and beaklike; periostracum dark brown; on shells of living Tegula,
Calliostoma,
and other gastropods | Crepidula
adunca Sowerby, 1825
 |  
| 3b | Shell low (never as high as wide), the apex not
prominent and often
not even distinct; exterior whitish or with a light periostracum, but
not
dark brown; frequently on empty shells of bivalves or gastropods,
including
those occupied by hermit crabs, but not attached to the shells of
living
Tegula,
Calliostoma, or other gastropods | 4 |  
| 4a | Apex of shell directed laterally and united with the
margin (introduced
with oysters from the Atlantic coast, and found in only a few areas) | Crepidula fornicata Linnaeus, 1758
 |  
| 4b | Apex of shell directed posteriorly, often overhanging
the posterior
margin of the shell | 5 |  
| 5a | Shell whitish, generally almost flat, with a shaggy,
yellow-brown periostracum | Crepidula nummaria Gould, 1846
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| 5b | Shell whitish, almost flat, concave, or misshapen
(depending on habitat),
with a thin, brown periostracum or without any obvious periostracum
(often
in burrows of pholadid bivalves, in empty shells, and inside shells
occupied
by hermit crabs, fitting the contour of the concave surface) | Crepidula
perforans (Valenciennes, 1846)
 |  
 Taxonomic
Levels Represented
in This Key:
 Calyptraea fastigiata
 Crepidula dorsata
 Crepidula
adunca
 Crepidula fornicata
 Crepidula nummaria
 Crepidula
perforans
 
 Page created by Dave Cowles, 7-2002
 Edited by:
 
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