Checkered snail
| Checkered snail | ||||||||||||
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Housing of Phalium areola |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Phalium areola | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The checkered helmet snail ( Phalium areola ) is a snail from the family of helmet snails (genus Phalium ), which is widespread in the Indo-Pacific and feeds on sea urchins .
features
The moderately large snail shell of Phalium areola has a pointed thread and a body circumference with a blunt, smooth, angled shoulder. Every interaction is occupied with a well-developed Varix. The seam is slightly dented. The mouth of the case is moderately wide, the siphon channel short and curved upwards. The outer lip of the case mouth is heavily serrated on its inner edge. The surface of the house is creamy white with 4 to 5 spiral rows of large square dark brown or deep orange spots. The house reaches around 9 cm, sometimes up to 12 cm, in adult snails.
distribution and habitat
Phalium areola is distributed in the Indo-Pacific from the South and East African via Mauritius , Mauritius, Réunion , Seychelles , Sri Lanka , India to Melanesia and Samoa , north to Japan and south to New South Wales and New Caledonia . The snail lives on sandy-muddy subsoil in the intertidal zone and down to depths of 7 m.
Life cycle
Like other helmet snails, Phalium areola is separate sexes. The male mates with the female with his penis . The female lays the eggs in clusters of numerous horny egg capsules, each containing several hundred eggs. Most of the eggs develop into embryos. The pelagic phase of the Veliger larvae from hatching from the egg capsule to metamorphosis into the finished snail takes about two months.
food
Phalium areola feeds on sea urchins , which are paralyzed with the poisonous saliva from the snail's snout.
Web links
- Fischhaus Zepkow: Family Cassidae - Helmet snails
- Cassidae - Helmet and bonnet shells (identification key for the helmet snails , English, on the FAO website ), p. 537: Phalium areola (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.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Deepak Apte (2004): Molluscan Fauna of Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary Part 1: Gastropoda. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 101. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay 2004. pp. 201-210, here 203.
- ↑ Jessy Selvamani: Likely Impact of Sea Urchin Removal as By-Catch on Lobster Resources in Gulf of Mannar. Marine Fisheries Information Service No.166. Marine Fisheries Information Service: Technical and extension series 157. Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Cochin (India) 2000. pp. 15-17, here p. 16.