Fencing snails
| Fencing snails | ||||||||||||
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Florida fencing snail ( Strombus alatus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Power bus | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
The Fechter screw ( power bus ) are a genus of the wing screw (Strombidae).
distribution
The majority of the approximately fifty species live in the Indo-Pacific , while five species ( S. gigas, S. gallus, S. costatus, S. pugilis, S. raninus ) are native to the Caribbean Sea .
Its largest representative is the great fencing snail ( Strombus gigas ), which lives in the Caribbean and can grow up to 21 cm long and weigh 2.5 kg. The males are usually slightly smaller than the females.
development
The fencing snails that emerge from Veliger larvae also change their shape significantly in the further course of their lives, which is why they were previously thought to be different species by the Caribbean inhabitants and even by zoologists.
Young fencer snails have a round shell without "wings" and are therefore called "rollers" or "round snails". Only the fully grown animal forms the characteristic edge of the shell ("wing"), in the case of the great fencer at the age of three. These adult animals are called "strong snails" or "leaf snails". Small fencer snails that already have pronounced wings are called "samba snails" or "sangas snails".
The edge of the shell of the fencing snail and the initially very pointed spikes on the shell wear out over time. The animals are camouflaged by vegetation and sessile animals.
Locomotion, "fencing"
The fencing snails use their fingernail-like operculum (shell closure lid) to move: To do this, the snail sticks the operculum into the ground and moves its body forward by jerking its foot, with a "step" about half a body length. The movement is similar to a fencing lunge . The snail leaves no trace of slime or smell and is thus better protected from enemies.
nutrition
Fencing snails live from algae growth on seagrass and the sand or mud bed.
use
The shells of the fencer snail are used in various cultures for the production of snail trumpets , for example among the Chimú and Inca in South America ( Quechua name : Pututu ). Fencing snails are coveted as a delicacy in their raw and cooked state. The enclosures are sold to tourists as souvenirs.
A patent application for the cultivation of sea pearls with the fencing snail is currently in progress. A foreign body is implanted in them, which, similar to oysters, is coated with mother-of-pearl and thus forms a pearl after 6 months to 2 years.
Danger
The great fencer (giant wing snail, Strombus gigas ) is endangered by excessive foraging.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cinthia Briseño: Researchers grow pearls from sea snails . Spiegel.de, November 4, 2009
