Open husk snail
| Open husk snail | ||||||||||||
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Simnia spelta on Leptogorgia sarmentosa |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Simnia spelta | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The Open Spelzenschnecke or Gorgonienschnecke ( Simnia spelta ) is a western Atlantic widespread snail from the family of ovulidae extending from sea fans fed.
features
The strong, thick, smooth and shiny snail shell of Simnia spelta is egg to cigar-shaped with a flattened base. The long case mouth on the underside has rolled edges on both sides. The house becomes up to 2 cm long in adult snails. The surface of the shell is white, yellow, pink or orange, often with white or dark spots, marbling or stripes, and its color corresponds to the sea fan species on which the snail lives, so that it is well camouflaged. As with other Simnia species, this also applies to the soft parts of the animal, as the pigment from the gorgonian meat that is eaten is deposited in the shell of the snail.
distribution and habitat
In addition to the long-known occurrences in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic , Simnia spelta is also widespread in the eastern Atlantic Ocean between the Bay of Biscay , the Canary Islands and Angola . It lives in particular on gorgonians , which it feeds on, down to a depth of about 10 m.
Life cycle
Like other egg snails, Simnia spelta is separate sexes. Internal fertilization takes place. The eggs are laid on the cnidarians that serve as hosts, on which they are well camouflaged. Veliger larvae hatch from the eggs and live as zooplankton before they metamorphose into snails .
food
Simnia spelta specializes in gorgonians of the genera Eunicella , Paramuricea and Lophogorgia . It eats the polyps and the coenenchyma , but mostly lastingly, so only to an extent that the host's tissue grows back again. It can affect bald eaten Gorgonienzweigen also epibionts settle, such as on the white gorgonian Eunicella singularis , where the screw is white.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Aedwina Reguieg, Alain-Pierre Sittler, Yves Müller: Simnia spelta (Linnaeus, 1758). DORIS, November 27, 2014.
- ↑ Catherine Thiriot-Quiévreux (1967): Observations sur Ie développement larvaire et postlarvaire de Simnia spelta Linné (Gastéropode Cypraeidae). Vie et Milieu Arago, Ser. A: Biologie marine 18 (I A), pp. 143-151.
- ↑ Jacques Dumas, Vincent Maran, Denis Ader, Sylvie Huet: Eunicella singularis (Esper, 1791). DORIS, January 27, 2014.