User:Poleebendahh/Nerita polita

Commonly known as polished nerite, scientifically Nerita polita, and belongs to the Hawaiian name kupe'e, falls under the family of Neritidae.{{Cite web |title=CAS - Central Authentication Service cas.login.pagetitle |url=https://authn.hawaii.edu/cas/login?service=https%3A%2F%2Fuhproxy.lib.hawaii.edu%2Fauth%2Fproxyauth.php%3Fcampus%3Docl%26url%3Dhttps%253a%252f%252fdspace.lib.hawaii.edu%252fserver%252fapi%252fcore%252fbitstreams%252ffacbe709-4439-40c2-b105-881d79c6c88c%252fcontent |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=authn.hawaii.edu}} It is a marine snail that has the ability to provide significant resources such as proteins, vitamins, minerals, etc.{{Cite journal |last=Hassan |first=A. H. |last2=Alhazmi |first2=N. S. |last3=Filimban |first3=A. Ar. |last4=Alsulami |first4=M. N. |date=2021-12-25 |title=Alterations in lipids and minerals in relation to larval trematode infections of Nerita polita marine snails |url=https://www.sciendo.com/article/10.2478/helm-2021-0039 |journal=Helminthologia |language=en |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=346–355 |doi=10.2478/helm-2021-0039 |issn=1336-9083}}

This snail's shell is smooth and glossy and grows about 4 centimeters in size.{{Citation |title=Nerita polita |date=2025-03-06 |work=Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerita_polita |access-date=2025-03-07 |language=en}} Kupe'e comes with a varying amount of colors, from grey to cream to red and to black. It also varies in patterns. Their aperture, or hole, is white alongside their cream and black colored chalky operculum. Inside is mostly white, with a tint of yellow, and they have no teeth, the operculum and columella, the central column of their shell, both consist of a smooth texture. A known pattern it takes upon is an axial pattern, whether it is thin or thick, or different colors.{{Cite journal |last=Grüneberg |first=Hans |date=1997-01 |title=Pseudo-polymorphism in Nerita polita (Neritacea, Archaeogastropoda) |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.1981.0024 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences |volume=212 |issue=1186 |pages=53–63 |doi=10.1098/rspb.1981.0024}} Another is a chevron pattern which contains white and gray spirals.

They are groups distributed in the Indo-West Pacific.{{Cite journal |date=1982-07-22 |title=Behavioural adaptation of the gastropod Nerita polita L. on different shores at Aldabra Atoll |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.1982.0053 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=215 |issue=1201 |pages=451–467 |doi=10.1098/rspb.1982.0053 |issn=0080-4649}} This spans from eastern Africa, intermediate to Asia and Australia, covers the Pacific, like Tahiti, and even enters the northern regions such as Japan. They overall have wide-ranging distribution.

Kupe'e inhabits the bury of the sand underwater and may also occupy the base of the formation of basalt and limestone near the shore. Ultimately, they are intertidal. They tend to come out when the tide is low to reproduce and collect nutrients. When the tide begins to rise and heads towards their den, they are most likely deemed to be finished with their duties.

Kupe'e is reminded of those who dance and perform hula, decorations for hula are widely called Kupe'e, specifically wrist and ankle adornments, other embellishments can be a neck lei, made from the snail's shell. This snail's presence holds value to the Hawaiian culture as it is apart of their hula performances. This marine snail serves use to humans by providing food. People in Hawai'i eat it in multiple different styles like raw and boiled.

Kupe'e has lots of exposure to fresh sewage and heavy metals due to the industrialization that occurs within town areas because of humans.{{Cite journal |last=Munyasya |first=JN |date=July 25 2015 |title=Biochemical Effects of Sewage Pollution on the Benthic Organism Nerita

polita |url=https://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/server/api/core/bitstreams/9cdd541c-f48a-44f9-bff0-0f7a83120559/content |journal=Environmental & Analytical Toxicology |pages=7}} This causes the spark to research Kupe'e, nerita polita, to study the effects on energy reserve and the condition they have enforced by sewage pollution.

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