Triplofusus giganteus
| Triplofusus giganteus | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Triplofusus giganteus in situ |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Triplofusus giganteus | ||||||||||||
| ( Kiener , 1840) |
Triplofusus giganteus ( Syn .: Pleuroploca gigantea ), German also large horse snail , is a species of snail from the family Fasciolariidae (genus Triplofusus ), whichis widespreadin the western Atlantic . It feeds mainly on mollusks . It is the largest species of snail in American waters and one of the largest anywhere.
features
The right-handed, spindle-shaped snail shell of Triplofus giganteus , which in adult snails reaches a length of 40 to 60 cm, has up to 10 whorls. It is provided with 5 to 7 spirally running bands and weak axial ribs that sometimes form knots towards the seam. The columella has 3 folds. The surface of the shell is greyish white to salmon colored, in young animals mostly orange. The case mouth is orange. The dark brown to light brown periostracum sometimes flakes off like scales. The oval operculum is colored leather brown and has a terminal core.
The snail has a very large, powerful foot. The animal is brightly colored brick-red.
Occurrence
Triplofusus giganteus is found in the western Atlantic and in the Gulf of Mexico on the American coast from North Carolina ( USA ) to the Yucatán and Belize .
It lives in the intertidal zone and a little below on sand, mud and in sea grass meadows.
Life cycle
Like other new snails, Triplofusus giganteus is separate sexes. The male mates with the female with his penis . In the period from March to May, the females lay their ball-shaped clutches, up to 15 cm in size, in which about 35 to 140 (or up to 400) egg capsules are attached to one another at a central point, on sandy or muddy substrate, where they in the current can roll on. According to measurements in Florida, an egg capsule is on average about 35 mm high, 18.5 mm wide and 7 mm thick. It contains numerous eggs, of which about 44 to 61 (54 on average) develop into snails, while the others serve as food eggs. The development of the Veliger stage takes place in the egg capsule, so that finished snails hatch.
nutrition
Triplofusus giganteus is a carnivore that feeds on snails and clams . The prey is grasped with the foot and such pressure is exerted on the operculum or the mussel shells with the help of the foot that the shell opens. Adult animals also fall victim to very large snails, including the great fencing snail ( Lobatus gigas ) and large predatory snails such as the real tulip snail ( Fasciolaria tulipa ), the lightning snail ( Busycon contrarium ) and some species of spiny snail . Even cannibalism has been observed. Research in Florida in 1963 suggested that an adult snail would eat a large snail about every four days. Large species of mussels such as Atrina rigida are also preferred prey.
Importance to humans
Triplofusus giganteus (original name Fasciolaria gigantea ) is collected for its casing, which is sold as jewelry. In some areas of Mexico the meat is eaten.
In the classical Maya culture in particular , but also in Teotihuacán , the house of this snail, which in Mayathan means chak pel , “red snail” (hence chacpel in local Spanish ), was made into snail trumpets . They also served as paint containers for painters. Some ethnic groups in southern Florida , including the Calusa and Tequesta , used the casing or just the Columella in conjunction with a wooden handle as a hammer or for woodworking. The corridor served as a drinking vessel.
In 1969, the state of Florida declared the snail, which is called horse conch (“horse snail”), to the “ state seashell ”.
Individual evidence
- ↑ World Register of Marine Species , Triplofus giganteus (Kiener, 1840) , Pleuroploca gigantea (Kiener, 1840)
- ↑ Triplofusus giganteus, large horse snail. Sea water encyclopedia, accessed March 12, 2018.
- ^ Charles N. d'Asaro: Egg Capsules of Prosobranch Mollusks from South Florida and the Bahamas and Notes on Spawning in the Laboratory . In: Bulletin of Marine Science. 20 (2), 1970, pp. 414-440.
- ^ Robert T. Paine : Feeding Rate of a Predaceous Gastropod, Pleuroploca gigantea . In: Ecology. 44 (2), 1963, pp. 402-403.
- ↑ Pinnidae: Atrina rigida (Lightfoot, 1786) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . From: José H. Leal: Gastropods . In: Kent E. Carpenter (Ed.): FAO Species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, molluscs, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes and chimaeras. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome 2002, p. 119.
- ↑ Louis Charles Kiener: Spécies général et iconographie des coquilles vivantes: comprenant la collection du Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Paris. Chez Rousseau: J.-B. Baillière, Paris 1840. Genre Fasciolaire. (Fasciolaria, Lam.) , P. 5. No. 3. Fasciolaire géante. Fasciolaria gigantea. Nobis.
- ^ Arnd Adje Both: Shell Trumpets in Mesoamerica. Music-Archaelogical Evidence and Living Tradition (Snail Trumpets in Mesoamerica. Music Archaeological Evidence and Living Traditions) ( Memento of the original from July 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF file; 3.11 MB) . In: Ellen Hickmann, Ricardo Eichmann (Eds.): Music-Archaeological Sources: Finds, Oral Transmission, Written Evidence. (Studies in Music Archeology 4); Papers from the 3rd Symposium of the International Study Group on Music Archeology at Monastery Michaelstein, 9-16 June 2002. (Orient-Aräologie Nr. 15). Verlag Marie Leidorf, Rahden 2004, pp. 261–277.
- ↑ Alexander Wolfgang Voss: The non-ceramic small finds from Xkipché, Yucatán, Mexico (PDF file; 9.90 MB) . Dissertation. University of Hamburg, 2004.
- ^ Victor D. Thompson, John Worth: Dwellers by the Sea: Native American Coastal Adaptations along the Southern Coasts of Eastern North America . In: Journal of Archaeological Research. 19, 2011, pp. 51-101.
Web links
- Fasciolariidae: Pleuroploca gigantea (Kiener, 1840) . from: José H. Leal: Gastropods . In: Kent E. Carpenter (Ed.): FAO Species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. Volume 1: Introduction, molluscs, crustaceans, hagfishes, sharks, batoid fishes and chimaeras. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome 2002, p. 119.
- Fischhaus Zepkow: Family Fasciolariidae - tulips & spindles
- Amanda Miller: Pleuroploca gigantea. on: Animal Diversity Web.