Big boat hook
| Big boat hook | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Case from Harpago Chiragra |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Harpago chiragra | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The large boat hook or the chiragra spider snail is a snail from the family of the winged snail (genus Harpago ), which is common in the Indo-Pacific .
features
The elongated egg-shaped, very large and thick snail shell of Harpago chiragra , which in adult snails reaches a length of about 17, sometimes up to 32 cm, has a bumpy, knotty back. At the edge of the mouth (including the siphon canal) there are 6 finger-like appendages, which are quite long and curved upwards on both sides. The surface of the case is white with reddish-brown spots, the mouth rose-red and white striped. The two outer fingers are bent away from the muzzle at a right angle.
The females are usually much larger than the males.
distribution and habitat
The great boat hook occurs in the eastern Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean , from Sri Lanka and the Bay of Bengal to eastern Polynesia , from southern Japan and Taiwan to northern Queensland ( Australia ) and to New Caledonia .
The snail lives in coral reefs on coarse sand with algae, in the shallow water of the intertidal zone, in tidal pools and below to a depth of about 25 meters. Like other wing snails, it feeds on algae .
Use and hazard
Harpago chiragra is collected for the case, which is sold as jewelry. The meat is eaten.
Web links
- Strombidae: Lambis chiragra chiragra (Linnaeus, 1758) . From: JM Poutiers: Gastropods . In: Kent E. Carpenter, Volker H. Niem (eds.): FAO Species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 1: Seaweeds, corals, bivalves and gastropods. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 1998. p. 477.
- Fischhaus Zepkow: Family Strombidae - winged snails
- Underwater Kwajalein: Harpago chiragra (Linnaeus, 1758)
Individual evidence
- ^ C. Brüggemann (1838): The natural history in faithful illustrations and with a detailed description of the same. Eduard Eisenach publisher, Leipzig 1838. Die Weichthiere, p. 77. The knotted wing snail . Scorpio power bus s. chiragra L. et nodosa Encycl.