Turritella exoleta (Linnaeus, 1758) Eastern Turretsnail
Distribution: North Carolina, Florida, Texas; West Indies. Size: 51 to 76 mm
Description: Color yellowish to white with flammules of orange-brown; shell shape conic, slender, and tall; sculpture of 16 to 18 whorls; whorls concave at center with a strong spiral cord at lower half of each whorl; whorls have fine spiral threads crossed by axial threads, giving a beaded appearance; sutures distinct on early whorls and divided by a septum at each half revolution; apertural lip subquadrate; anomphalous. Habitat: Found in dense substrate at depths from 2 to 183 m (7 to 600 ft). Remarks: Pallial organs, especially those found in the gill, are perfectly adapted for ciliary feeding. Sometimes confused as a turrid. See Morton (1953); Warmke and Abbott (1961); Redfern (2001).