Charonia variegata
Encyclopedia
Charonia variegata, common name the Atlantic triton, is a species
of predatory sea snail
, a marine
gastropod mollusk in the family
Ranellidae
, the triton snails, triton shells or tritons.
, in the Atlantic Ocean
along Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, North West Africa, Tanzania, in the Caribbean Sea
and the Gulf of Mexico
and from North Carolina
to Eastern Brazil
.
length is 374 mm. This conical shell has an elongate and sharply pointed spire without any knobs, but somewhat squatter than the spire of the Pacific Charonia tritonis
. The lower whorls
are unevenly swollen with a varix
and bulge over the suture. The suture then descends in an uneven spiral. The parietal callus is lined with a narrow, dark inner lip, covered with regularly spaced brown rib-like plicae. The outer lip is scalloped but less projected and toothed with about ten pairs of rib-like teeth superimposed on square, dark brown blotches. The color of the shell is mottled in shades of creamwhite, to yellow with brown markings. The inside of the large aperture is orange pink, the interior is white.
The species is highly variable and does not have any known geographic subspecies.
The veliger
larvae have a period of pelagic development of more than three months, drifting in the trans-Atlantic currents. These larvae are the largest known of any Cymatiidae in the Atlantic, with the shell reaching 5 mm when fully developed.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of predatory sea snail
Sea snail
Sea snail is a common name for those snails that normally live in saltwater, marine gastropod molluscs....
, a marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
gastropod mollusk in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Ranellidae
Ranellidae
Ranellidae, common name the triton shells or tritons, is a taxonomic family of small to very large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Littorinimorpha.-Subfamilies:...
, the triton snails, triton shells or tritons.
Distribution
This species has a wide distribution. It has been found in European waters, the Mediterranean SeaMediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
along Cape Verde, the Canary Islands, North West Africa, Tanzania, in the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
and the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
and from North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
to Eastern Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
.
Description
The shell size varies between 100 mm and 375 mm. The maximum recorded shellGastropod shell
The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, one kind of mollusc. The gastropod shell is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage...
length is 374 mm. This conical shell has an elongate and sharply pointed spire without any knobs, but somewhat squatter than the spire of the Pacific Charonia tritonis
Charonia tritonis
Charonia tritonis, common name Triton's trumpet, is a species of very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Ranellidae, the tritons.Also see Charonia or Triton .-Distribution:...
. The lower whorls
Whorl (mollusc)
A whorl is a single, complete 360° revolution or turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell. A spiral configuration of the shell is found in of numerous gastropods, but it is also found in shelled cephalopods including Nautilus, Spirula and the large extinct subclass of cephalopods known as the...
are unevenly swollen with a varix
Varix (mollusc)
A varix is an anatomical feature of the shell of certain sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs.It is a thickened axial ridge in the shell of some families of gastropods. A varix is located at intervals around the whorl, and is formed by considerable thickening of the outer lip at a resting stage...
and bulge over the suture. The suture then descends in an uneven spiral. The parietal callus is lined with a narrow, dark inner lip, covered with regularly spaced brown rib-like plicae. The outer lip is scalloped but less projected and toothed with about ten pairs of rib-like teeth superimposed on square, dark brown blotches. The color of the shell is mottled in shades of creamwhite, to yellow with brown markings. The inside of the large aperture is orange pink, the interior is white.
The species is highly variable and does not have any known geographic subspecies.
The veliger
Veliger
A veliger is the planktonic larva of many kinds of marine and freshwater gastropod molluscs, as well as most bivalve mollusks.- Description :...
larvae have a period of pelagic development of more than three months, drifting in the trans-Atlantic currents. These larvae are the largest known of any Cymatiidae in the Atlantic, with the shell reaching 5 mm when fully developed.
Further reading
- Lamarck, J. B. de. 1816. Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique des trois règnes de la Nature. Paris, page(s): pl. 421, Liste, p. 5
- Rolán E., 2005. Malacological Fauna From The Cape Verde Archipelago. Part 1, Polyplacophora and Gastropoda
- Rosenberg, G., F. Moretzsohn, and E. F. García. 2009. Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 579–699 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas