Toad snail

Toad snail
	Housing of Bufonaria rana
Systematics
Subordination :	Hypsogastropoda
Partial order :	Littorinimorpha
Superfamily :	Cassoidea
Family :	Frog snails (Bursidae)
Genre :	Bufonaria
Type :	Toad snail
Scientific name
	Bufonaria rana
	( Linnaeus , 1758)

The toads screw or Common frog screw ( Bufonaria rana ) is a medium-large predatory living screw from the family of the frog screws (genus Bufonaria ) provided in the western Pacific, is widespread.

features

The snail shell of Bufonaria rana , which is up to 9 cm in height, usually up to 7.5 cm in height, has a conical, raised thread and protruding, sometimes prickly varices. It is sculptured with finely grained spiral threads and prickly knots. Two rows of knots run across the body, the lower one of which can be smaller. The outer lip is toothed. The spindle has no callous parietal shield and is only slightly glazed. The lower half of the spindle towards the siphon canal is finely serrated. The spiral threads around the body continue to the upper half of the spindle. The siphon channel can be of different lengths - moderately long or very long. The outer lip and spindle are serrated and turned over, but the folds in the center of the spindle can be lost. The surface of the snail shell is creamy to white with brown spots, the mouth of the shell is either white, yellow or reddish orange.

distribution and habitat

Bufonaria rana is distributed in the tropical western Pacific Ocean from Indonesia to Polynesia and from Japan to southern Queensland , but not in the Philippines. The snail is mainly found on muddy and muddy sandy subsoil of the continental shelf to below the intertidal zone.

Life cycle

Like other frog snails, Bufonaria rana is separate sexes. The male mates with the female with his penis . Veliger larvae hatch from the eggs and live as plankton until they have metamorphosed into the finished snail.

food

Bufonaria rana feeds especially brittle stars , but also carrion . The latter enables them to survive in severely damaged waters where suitable live prey is no longer available.

literature

AG Beu (1998): Australian gastropods of the family Bursidae. Part 1. Sydney 2003, pp. 280-282.
JR Houbrick, V. Fretter (1969): Some aspects of the functional anatomy and biology of Cymatium and Bursa. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 38, pp. 415-429.

Web links

Commons : Toad snail ( Bufonaria rana ) - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Fischhaus Zepkow: Family Bursidae - frog snails
Bursidae: Bufonaria rana (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. 551.

Individual evidence

^ Walter O. Cernohorsky: Marine shells of the Pacific. Pacific Publications, Sydney 1972. p. 119.
^ Graham Blackmore: Trace metals in the sublittoral epibenthic Bufonaria rana (Gastropoda: Bursidae) from the Southeastern waters of Hong Kong. In: Brian Morton: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China V. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong 2000. pp. 435–454, here: p. 436.

[1] Walter O. Cernohorsky: Marine shells of the Pacific. Pacific Publications, Sydney 1972. p. 119.

[2] Graham Blackmore: Trace metals in the sublittoral epibenthic Bufonaria rana (Gastropoda: Bursidae) from the Southeastern waters of Hong Kong. In: Brian Morton: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China V. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong 2000. pp. 435–454, here: p. 436.