Screw worms

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Screw worms
Housing of Terebra dislocata

Housing of Terebra dislocata

Systematics
Superordinate : Caenogastropoda
Order : Sorbeoconcha
Subordination : Hypsogastropoda
Partial order : Neogastropoda
Superfamily : Conoidea
Family : Screw worms
Scientific name
Terebridae
Mørch , 1864
Different species of the genus Terebra : a Terebra subulata from the western Pacific, b – e Terebra species from the Pacific coasts of Mexico and Panama, f Terebra taurina from the western Atlantic

The screw snails (Terebridae) are a family of exclusively marine snails that is native to the tropical seas. They are almost exclusively predatory forms.

features

The housings are almost exclusively slim, highly conical with numerous windings. The mouth is small and, depending on the shape of the case, narrow to broad-oval. The lower edge is barely extended (in contrast to the other families of the Conoidea ). The mouth can be closed with a thin operculum on the small foot.

Way of life, occurrence and distribution

The types of screw snails hunt marine worms buried in the sand, which are usually stung with a radula tooth and paralyzed with the help of the venom gland , such as the Babylonian screw snail ( Terebra babylonia ) and the awl snail ( Terebra subulata ). They live exclusively in the warmer seas (tropics and subtropics) with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region. While most screw snails have venom glands, these are absent in some species of the genus Oxymeris ( syn. Acus ), such as the spotted screw snail ( Oxymeris maculata ), the notched screw snail ( Oxymeris crenulata ), the fly- barn snail ( Oxymeris areolata ) and the orange -Screw snail ( Oxymeris dimidiata ). These overwhelm their prey - depending on the species, only acorn worms or, in addition, many bristles - by devouring them as a whole, living body. A secondary loss of the poison gland is assumed evolutionarily.

Terebridae the genus Hastula , including the sandy beach screw auger ( Hastula hectica ), the sandy beaches, where they hunt polychaete living in the surf. Hastula inconstans can be found on the beaches of the Hawaiian Islands, where she rides the waves and catches prey in the trough of the waves. In Hawaii, she specializes in the spy Dispio magna . Once it has caught a prey, it digs itself into the sand with it before the new wave comes.

Systematics

The family Terebridae was divided by Bouchet and Rocroi into two subfamilies Terebrinae Mörch, 1852 and Pervicaciinae Rudman, 1969, which are no longer used today. 20 genera (including 2 fossil ) are currently in this family:

As of March 15, 2015

literature

  • Philippe Bouchet, Jean-Pierre Rocroi (Ed.): Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families. Part 2: Working classification of the Gastropoda . (= Malacologia. 47). Ann Arbor 2005, archive.org , ConchBooks, ISBN 978-3-925919-72-5 , pp. 239-283.
  • Victor Millard (Ed.): Classification of the Mollusca. A Classification of World Wide Mollusca. Rhine Road, South Africa 1997, ISBN 0-620-21261-6 , online (PDF; 2.46 MB), at olivirv.myspecies.info, accessed February 25, 2017.
  • Frank Riedel: Origin and evolution of the "higher" Caenogastropoda. (= Berlin Geoscientific Treatises, Series E. Volume 32). Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-89582-077-6 .
  • R. Tucker Abbott, S. Peter Dance: Compendium of Seashells. Odyssey Publishing, El Cajon, California 1998, ISBN 0-9661720-0-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Riedel: Origin and Evolution. 2000, p. 83.
  2. ↑ Baldomero M. Olivera, Alexander Fedosov, Julita S. Imperial, Yuri Kantor: Physiology of Envenomation by Conoidean Gastropods. In: Saber Saleuddin, Spencer Mukai: Physiology of Molluscs: A Collection of Selected Reviews, Two-Volume Set: Volume 1. Apple Academic Press, CRC Press, Boca Raton 2017, pp. 153–188, here 180.
  3. ^ Philippe Bouchet, Jean-Pierre Rocroi (Ed.): Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families. Part 2: Working classification of the Gastropoda . (= Malacologia, 47). Ann Arbor 2005, ISBN 3-925919-72-4 , pp. 239-283.
  4. ^ Philippe Bouchet: Borsoniidae Bellardi, 1875 . In: WoRMS, World Register of Marine Species. 2014, accessed March 12, 2015

Web links

Commons : Screw snails (Terebridae)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files