Hercules Club (snail)
| Hercules club | ||||||||||||
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Housing of Bolinus brandaris , different views |
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| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The Hercules club or the fire horn ( Bolinus brandaris ), like some related species also called the purple snail , is a snail from the family of spiny snails (genus Bolinus ), which is widespread in the Mediterranean and the Indo-Pacific . It feeds mainly on mollusks and barnacles .
features
The golden brown to gray snail shell of Bolinus brandaris has a bulbous body, a slightly protruding thread and a long siphon channel . It has several rows of straight hollow spines, often just knots, which correspond to the snail's growth spikes. In adult snails it reaches a length of 6 to 9 cm. The operculum is horny. The snail is no larger than a Roman snail, has a small head and short antennae. The trunk is about 2 cm long.
distribution
The Hercules Club occurs in the central and western Mediterranean , the Adriatic Sea and some coral reefs in the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea .
habitat
The Hercules Club lives on sand and muddy ground in shallow water up to a depth of 200 m. The size of the spines on the shell is largely determined by the snail's habitat and not genetically determined. Hercules clubs form long spines on muddy ground, whereas those on sand or stone only form short ones. Obviously, the spines help the snail not to sink into the soft mud.
Life cycle
Like other spiny snails, Bolinus brandaris is separate from the sexes. The male mates with the female with his penis . Usually many females come together to lay a large number of egg capsules together. These contain numerous eggs, some of which serve as food eggs. The development of the Veliger takes place entirely in the egg capsules. Ready-made snails hatch from these.
food
Bolinus brandaris eats mussels , snails and barnacles , sometimes also conspecifics. In addition, is carrion eaten. In contrast to other spiny snails, the Hercules club does not drill, but breaks the shell of the prey with the edge of the shell.
Enemies
The enemies of Bolinus brandaris include predatory snails, including spiked snails, which, among other things, pierce the hollow spines and thus reach the snail's flesh.
Importance to humans
Bolinus brandaris , known for a long time under the original name Murex brandaris by Linné , forms a milky secretion that is used to hunt, defend and protect the eggs against microbes. The colorless substance first turns green in air and later purple-red. That is why the Hercules club has served humans as a supplier of purple since ancient times .
Since the substance is secreted by the living snail when it is disturbed, living animals can be "milked" and put back into the water. In ancient times, however, the snails were killed, their hypobranchial gland removed with the coloring substance, first immersed in salt for three days, then boiled in urine and thus thickened. When drying, light had to be present so that the color reaction could take place.
The Hercules Club is collected and cooked in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal .
Individual evidence
- ^ C. Brüggemann: The natural history in faithful illustrations and with a detailed description of the same. Eduard Eisenach publisher, Leipzig 1838. The molluscs. P. 71. The Brandhorn. Murex Brandaris L.
- ↑ Carolus Linnaeus : Systema Naturae. 10th ed., Lars Salvius: Stockholm 1758, p. 747. 446. Murex Brandaris.
- ↑ Guido T. Poppe, Yoshihiro Goto: European seashells. Vol. 1 (Polyplacophora, Caudofoveata, Solenogastra, Gastropoda). Christa Hemmen, Wiesbaden 1991, ISBN 3-925919-07-4 . 352 pages.
- ↑ L. Berner: La croissance de la coquille chez les gasteropodes. Bulletin de l'Institut océanographique de Monaco 816, pp. 1-16, 1942.
- ↑ Alexandra Richter, María José Amor, Mercé Durfort: Comparison of the female reproductive system of two marine gastropods (Neogastropoda: Muricidae) with different reproductive biology (abstract) . (PDF; 3.16 MB). Global Questions on Advanced Biology. An international conference on interdisciplinary frontiers in biology. 9th - 12th of July 2012, Barcelona.
- ↑ Paulo Vasconcelos et al: Growth of the purple dye murex, Bolinus brandaris (Gastropoda: Muricidae), marked and released in a semi-intensive fish culture earthen pond . In: Scientia Marina. 76 (1), March 2012, 67-78, Barcelona, doi: 10.3989 / scimar.03313.21B .
literature
- GE Radwin, A. D'Attilio: Murex shells of the world. An illustrated guide to the Muricidae. Stanford Univ. Press, Stanford 1986, x + pp. 1-284 incl. 192 figs. + 32 pls. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-0897-5 . Bolinus brandaris. P. 28.
- Julia Ellen Rogers: The Shell Book. Doubleday, Page & Company, New York 1908. archive.org , The Straight-spine Murex. Murex brandaris Linn. P. 32 f. Kessinger Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-0-548-07135-9 (reprint).
