The common nutmeg, ''Cancellaria reticulata'', is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of medium-sized to large sea snail, a

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

gastropod

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is es ...

in the family

Cancellariidae Cancellariidae, common name the nutmeg snails or nutmeg shells, are a family of small to medium-large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Neogastropoda. Some of the shells of the species in this family resemble a nutmeg seed. ...

, the nutmeg snails.Bouchet, P. (2010). Cancellaria reticulata (Linnaeus, 1767). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=515781 on 2012-04-08

Distribution

This species lives in the western

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

Ocean from

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, in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Lesser Antilles.

Habitat

The common nutmeg lives in offshore waters. The empty shell is occasionally washed onto ocean beaches.

Life habits

This species is probably carnivorous because its

radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...

is ideal for feeding on soft-bodied animals. The life habits of this species are not known, but one species ('' Cancellaria cooperi'') in the same family is an external parasite on

ray Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

Shell description

The shell of this species grows up to 2.5 inches in length. It has a rough surface with many spiral cords crossing many axial ribs, resulting in a lattice or beaded pattern. The aperture is elongate, with a short canal. The inner margin with two strong, thin spiral ridges running into its

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...

(the upper ridge is stronger than the lower ridge). There is no operculum. The common nutmeg's coloration is banded or splotched with tints of cream and orange or brown.

References

* Abbott, R. Tucker, 1986. ''Seashells of North America'', St. Martin's Press, New York
Common Nutmeg

NC Sea Grant
* Petit, R.E. & Harasewych, M.G. (2005) ''Catalogue of the superfamily Cancellarioidea Forbes and Hanley, 1851 (Gastropoda: Prosobranchia)''- 2nd edition. Zootaxa, 1102, 3-161. NIZT 682 * Hemmen J. (2007). ''Recent Cancellariidae''. Wiesbaden, 428pp. * 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.

External links

* The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum entry at

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5153579 Cancellariidae Gastropods described in 1767 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus