Syrinx aruanus

''Syrinx aruanus'', common name the Australian trumpet or false trumpet, is a species of extremely large sea snail measuring up to 91 cm long and weighing up to 18 kg. It is a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turbinellidae, and is the only species in the genus ''Syrinx''.

This is the largest extant snail (shelled gastropod) species in the world, and arguably the largest (heaviest) gastropod in the world. Although the shell itself is quite well known to shell collectors because of its extraordinary size, little is known about the ecology and behavior of the species, except for one study about its feeding habits.

Taxonomy

In 1681, Filippo Bonanni depicted this species in one of the first books ever published that was solely about seashells. The book was entitled: ''"Ricreatione dell' occhio e dela mente nell oservation' delle Chiociolle, proposta a' curiosi delle opere della natura, &c."''

The taxonomic affinities of ''Syrinx aruanus'' were not properly understood for a long time. Until fairly recently it was placed in the family Melongenidae. A detailed taxonomic overview of this species was provided by Harasewych & Petit (1989).Harasewych M.G. & Petit R.E. (1989). "The nomenclatural status and phylogenetic affinities of ''Syrinx aruanus'' Linne, 1758 (Prosobranchia: Turbinellidae)". '' The Nautilus'' 103(2)
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Description

This is the largest recent (as opposed to fossil) shelled gastropod, and the largest shelled gastropod by weight. (However, the largest shell-less gastropod or slug is ''Aplysia vaccaria'', a giant sea hare known as the California black sea hare. The largest ''A. vaccaria'' has been measured at 99 cm in length and weighing in at almost 14 kg). An extremely large species of fossil gastropod is ''Campanile giganteum of ''S. aruanus'' is up to 91 cm (see also Hawaiian Shell News, 1982). The weight of the shell is about 1800 g.

The shell is usually pale apricot in color, however in life it is covered by thick brown or grey periostracum. The shell color can fade to a creamy yellow. The whole shell has a spindle-like shape. The spire of the shell is high. The whorls usually have a strong keel which can have nodules on it. The shell has a long siphonal canal. There are no folds on the columella, unlike some other genera within the same family.

Juvenile shells show a long tower-shaped protoconch or embryonic shell of 5 whorls, which is usually lost in the adult. This protoconch is about 2.5 cm long and looks so unlike the adult shell that it was described by George Washington Tryon in 1887 as a different species.

The weight of the animal (including the shell) can be up to 18 kg (40 lb). The radula of this species was described in detail by Wells et al. (2003).

Distribution

This species occurs in the northern half of Australia and adjacent areas, including eastern Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Ecology

These giant snails live on sandy bottoms in the intertidal zone and the sublittoral down to about 30 m.Carpenter K. E. & Niem V. H. (eds.) (1998)
''FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Volume 1. Seaweeds, corals, bivalves and gastropods''
Rome, FAO, ISSN 1020-4547, 686 pp., pages tp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/w7191e/w7191e54.pdf 603-617 page 605. Where it has not been overfished, this snail is locally common. (Abbott & Dance, 1982)

This carnivorous species is specialized for feeding on polychaete worms in the genera ''Polyodontes'' (Acoetidae), ''Loimia'' (Terebellidae) and ''Diopatra'' (Onuphidae).Wells F. E., Walker D. I. & Jones D. S. (eds.) (2003)
"Food of giants – field observations on the diet of ''Syrinx aruanus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (Turbinellidae) the largest living gastropod"
. The Marine Flora and Fauna of Dampier, Western Australia. Western Australian Museum, Perth. It may seem unlikely for such a large gastropod to feed on worms, but worms in the family Acoetidae do include the largest polychaetes, with a length of over 1 meter. These worms live in tubes; ''Syrinx aruanus'' can reach them with its proboscis, which has a length of up to 250 mm.

Human uses

This species is fished both for its very large shell and for its edible flesh, which is sometimes used as bait. The shell is sold for shell collections and is used as a source of lime. Another use of its shell is as a water carrier.Dance S. P. (1992). ''Shells''. Dorling Kindersley. London, New York, Stuttgart. 256 pp., . page 141.

The Aboriginal Australian peoples who live on the Pennefather River in Queensland, use (or used) a half-moon shaped nose-pin known as an ''imina'' which is made from the shell of ''Syrinx aruanus''. This nose pin is employed by men only; the women use a piece of grass instead. In order to make one of these nose pins, if the ''Syrinx'' shell is fresh, then it can be worked on right away, but if it is dried out, the shell is first soaked for two or three days in water. After this, a portion of the shell which is near the suture and the keel on the body whorl is chipped out using a stone, (see image), and then is ground down with water. The resulting rib-shaped object is used as the nose-pin.

See also

* ''Triplofusus papillosus'', the largest living sea snail species in the Americas

References

This article incorporates public domain text from reference. Roth W. E. (1910). "North Queensland ethnography". ''Records of the Australian Museum'', Sydney
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page 30

Further reading

* Kesteven H. L. (1904). "The anatomy of ''Megalatractus''". ''Memoirs of the Australian Museum'' 4: 419–449.
* McClain C. R., Balk M. A., Benfield M. C., Branch T. A., Chen C., Cosgrove J., Dove A. D. M., Gaskins L. C., Helm R. R., Hochberg F. G., Lee F. B., Marshall A., McMurray S. E., Schanche C., Stone S. N. & Thaler A. D. (2015). "Sizing ocean giants: patterns of intraspecific size variation in marine megafauna". '' PeerJ'' 3: e715 .
* (1982). "Large ''Syrinx aruanus'' of shell length 36 inches (91.4cm) illustrated". ''Hawaiian Shell News'' 30(7): 12.

External links

* Two images of shells with periostracum at:

* More good quality images of shells here


{{Taxonbar, from=Q1548356

Turbinellidae
Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean
Marine molluscs of Asia
Gastropods described in 1758
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus