Dwarf conchrones
| Dwarf conchrones | ||||||||||||
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Casing of Colubraria tortuosa (Reeve, 1844) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Colubrariidae | ||||||||||||
| Dall , 1904 |
The dwarf conch horns (Colubrariidae) are a family of rather small to medium-sized, exclusively marine snails that occur in tropical and temperate seas. As far as is known, all representatives feed as temporary ectoparasites of fish of blood .
features
The robust, mostly elongated spindle-shaped, up to 5 cm long cases of the dwarf conch horns have a high thread with numerous convex passages and a solid body passage. The surface of the housing is reticulated due to the axial and spiral sculpting. The egg-shaped case mouth is rather small, the siphon channel short and curved. The horny operculum has a terminal core.
In contrast to other Buccinoidea, the radula of the Colubrariidae is either very small or completely absent. The middle section of the esophagus is long and glandular. There is no body gland (Ponder, 1973). The stomach is a simple sack, which indicates that snails have a liquid diet.
Way of life, occurrence and distribution
The Colubrariidae are common in tropical and temperate seas. As far as is known, the snails look for fish in their resting phase and sting them with their thin proboscis , which can be extended far beyond their body length , in order to suck their blood . This behavior was first described in Colubraria obscura , which parasitizes on parrot fish. In the meantime, other species, including Colubraria tortuosa and Colubraria nitidula , have been observed suckling on parrotfish and some have also been photographed. Modica and Oliverio have observed visibly stunned host fish and therefore suspect that anesthetics produced by the snails, but also anticoagulants, play an important role during blood sucking.
Systematics
According to Bouchet and Rocroi (2005), the Colubrariidae family is one of six families in the superfamily Buccinoidea . The Colubrariidae family includes three genera:
- Colubraria Schumacher, 1817
- Cumia Bivona-Bernardi, 1838
- Iredalula Finlay, 1926
literature
- Philippe Bouchet, Doug Perrine (1996): More gastropods feeding at night on parrotfishes . Bulletin of Marine Science 59, pp. 224-228.
- Marco Oliverio, Maria Vittoria Modica (2009): Relationships of the haematophagous marine snail Colubraria (Rachiglossa, Colubrariidae), within the neogastropod phylogenetic framework . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158, pp. 779-800.
- Maria Vittoria Modica, Mandë Holford: The Neogastropoda: Evolutionary Innovations of Predatory Marine Snails with Remarkable Pharmacological Potential (PDF; 375 kB) . In: P. Pontarotti (Ed.): Evolutionary Biology - Concepts, Molecular and Morphological Evolution . Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010. Chapter 15, pp. 249-270. 15.2.4.1. Haematophagy : pp. 255f. doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-642-12340-5_15
- Winston Ponder (1973): The origin and evolution of the Neogastropoda . Malacologia 12 (2), pp. 295-338.
- Felix Lorenz: Mollusca . In: Klaus Rohde: Marine Parasitology . Csiro Publishing, Canberra 2005. 592 pages.
- John W. Tunnell, Jean Andrews, Noe C Barrera, Fabio Moretzsohn: Encyclopedia of Texas Seashells: Identification, Ecology, Distribution, and History . Texas A&M University Press, College Station (Texas) 2010. 512 pp. Colubrariidae : p. 216.
- Philippe Bouchet & Jean-Pierre Rocroi: Part 2. Working classification of the Gastropoda . Malacologia, 47: 239-283, Ann Arbor 2005 ISSN 0076-2997
- Winston Ponder & David Lindberg, Towards a phylogeny of gastropod molluscs; an analysis using morphological characters . Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 119: 83-265, London 1997 ISSN 0024-4082
- Frank Riedel: Origin and evolution of the "higher" Caenogastropoda . Berliner Geoscientific Abhandlungen, Series E, Volume 32, Berlin 2000, 240 pages, ISBN 3-89582-077-6 .
