''Sinum cymba'',
common name
In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...
the concave ear moon snail, is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
predatory
Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...
sea snail
Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...
, a
marine gastropod
Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda ().
This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...
mollusk
Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Naticidae
Naticidae, common name moon snails or necklace shells, is a family (biology), family of medium to large-sized predatory sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha. The shells of the species in this family a ...
, the moon snails.
It was classified by the German malacologist Karl Theodor Menke in 1828 with the name ''Natica cymba''.
Description
Shell with a wide opening, brown and smooth; with an external coloration of purplish-brown to pale, gray or white, on a surface with a waxy shine, provided with fine spiral lines. The spiral is low and up to 7 centimeters long, when developed; ending in a broad turn. There is no umbilical underneath. The outer lip is thin and angular.
The species lives in cold, shallow waters.
Distribution
It is common in the eastern Pacific Ocean, on the coasts of South America to Chile, including the Galápagos, and southern Central America,in Panama.
Subfamily Sininae
The
Naticidae
Naticidae, common name moon snails or necklace shells, is a family (biology), family of medium to large-sized predatory sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha. The shells of the species in this family a ...
of the subfamily Sininae have a low
spiral
In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects.
Two-dimensional
A two-dimension ...
and a wide aperture or so wide that they are mistaken for abalones without perforations; they have auriform (ear -shaped) shells. They have a very small horny
operculum.
References
External links
Three views of the shell of ''Sinum cymba''(
Panama
Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
), on Flickr, by Pei-Jan Wang.
*
Naticidae
Gastropods described in 1828
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