''Buccinum thermophilum'' 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
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 ...
Buccinidae
The Buccinidae are a very large and diverse taxonomic family of large sea snails, often known as whelks or true whelks.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2010). Buccinidae. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Ac ...
, the true whelks.
Description
The common name for ''B. thermophilum'' is the endeavor vent whelk. Whelks are usually moderate to large in size, with smooth or sculptured whorls which often have a distinct shoulder. The aperture is large and a siphonal canal and horny operculum are present. They have two eyes at the base of tentacles, and a well-developed sense of smell. They are usually considered as predatory or scavengers. Their shell length is typically 3.5 cm. Whelks lay eggs in attached masses of lens-shaped capsules, each of which contains 200–450 eggs. Their egg size is about 275 μm, and the capsule diameter is about 5–6 mm. Buccinid whelks usually hatch from eggs as juveniles, so have limited dispersal capability. Deep-sea buccinids can survive up to a year without food.
Distribution
This marine species occurs off the
Juan de Fuca Ridge
The Juan de Fuca Ridge is a Mid-ocean ridge, mid-ocean spreading center and divergent plate boundary located off the coast of the Pacific Northwest region of North America, named after Juan de Fuca. The ridge separates the Pacific Plate to the we ...
, Northeast Pacific
References
Further reading
Harasewych, M. G. (2002). ''Buccinum thermophilum (Gastropoda: Neogastropoda: Buccinidae), a new species from the Endeavour vent field of the Juan de Fuca Ridge''. Journal Molluscan Studies. 68(1): 39–44
External links
*
Buccinidae
Gastropods described in 2002
{{Buccinidae-stub