Photo 1: A pair of Black Turban Snails. (Photo taken at Winter Harbour)
Black Turban: Tegula funebralis
Common Names: Black Tegula, Black Turban Snail, Black Top Shell
This snail prefers the open coast so you'll have to head to the west coast of Vancouver Island to find it. It lives intertidally and is a grazer, feeding off of microscopic algae. Both the slipper snail and certain limpets attach themselves to the rounded snail shell. It is preyed upon by sea otters and ochre sea stars. It will flee when approached by ochre sea stars but not when approached by non-predatory sea stars. The dark black color is its periostracum.