''Charonia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of very large

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 ...

, commonly known as Triton's trumpet or Triton snail. They are 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 ...

mollusks in the monotypic family Charoniidae. They are one of the few natural predators of the

crown-of-thorns starfish The crown-of-thorns starfish (frequently abbreviated to COTS), ''Acanthaster planci'', is a large starfish that preys upon hard, or stony, coral polyps (Scleractinia). The crown-of-thorns starfish receives its name from venomous thornlike spines ...

Etymology

The common name "Triton's trumpet" is derived from the

Greek god In ancient Greece, deities were regarded as immortal, anthropomorphic, and powerful. They were conceived of as individual persons, rather than abstract concepts or notions, and were described as being similar to humans in appearance, albeit larg ...

Triton Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of ''Triturus' ...

, who was the son of

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

, god of the sea. The god Triton is often portrayed blowing a large seashell horn similar to this species.

Fossil records

This genus is known in the

fossil record A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s as far back as the

Cretaceous period The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ninth and longest geologi ...

. Fossils are found in the marine strata throughout the world. Fossilworks
/ref>

Description

Species within the genus ''Charonia'' have large fusiform shells, usually whiteish with brown or yellow markings. The shell of the giant triton ''

Charonia tritonis ''Charonia tritonis'', common name the Triton's trumpet, the giant triton or is a species of very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Charoniidae, the tritons. Reaching up to two feet (or 60 cm) in shell length th ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...

), which lives in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

, can grow to over half a metre (20 inches) in length. One slightly smaller (shell size but still very large species, ''

Charonia variegata ''Charonia variegata'', the Atlantic triton or Atlantic triton's trumpet, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Charoniidae, the triton snails, triton shells, or tritons. Distribution This species has a ...

'' (

Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...

, 1816), lives in the western

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, from

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Distribution

''Charonia'' species inhabit

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

and

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

waters worldwide.

Life habits

Unlike

pulmonate Pulmonata or pulmonates is an informal group (previously an order, and before that, a subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a pallial lung instead of a gill, or gills. The group inclu ...

and

opisthobranch Opisthobranchs () is a now informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping. Euopistho ...

s, tritons are not

hermaphrodite A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic. The individuals of many ...

s; they have separate

sex Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. During sexual reproduction, a male and a female gamete fuse to form a zygote, which develops into an offspring that inheri ...

es and undergo

sexual reproduction Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete ( haploid reproductive cells, such as a sperm or egg cell) with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote tha ...

with internal fertilization. The female deposits white capsules in clusters, each of which contains many developing

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e. The larvae emerge free-swimming and enter the

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

, where they drift in open water for up to three months.

Feeding behavior

Adult tritons are active

predator 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 List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

s and feed on other

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

s and

starfish Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to ...

.Christopher Ma
Snails that eat Starfish : Predation in the tropical Indo-Pacific
/ref> The giant triton has gained fame for its ability to capture and eat

, a large species (up to 1 m in diameter) covered in venomous spikes an inch long. The crown-of-thorns starfish has few other natural predators, and are capable of destroying large sections of

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

. Tritons can be observed to turn and give chase when the scent of prey is detected. Some starfish (including the crown-of-thorns starfish) appear to be able to detect the approach of the mollusc by means which are not clearly understood, and they will attempt flight before any physical contact has taken place. Tritons, however, are faster than starfish, and only large starfish have a reasonable hope of escape, and then only by abandoning whichever limb the snail seizes first. The triton grips its prey with its

muscular MUSCULAR (DS-200B), located in the United Kingdom, is the name of a surveillance program jointly operated by Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) that was revealed by documents release ...

foot and uses its toothy

radula The radula (; : radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by mollusks 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 enters ...

(a serrated, scraping organ found in gastropods) to saw through the starfish's armoured skin. Once it has penetrated, a paralyzing saliva subdues the prey and the snail feeds at leisure, often beginning with the softest parts such as the

gonads A gonad, sex gland, or reproductive gland is a mixed gland and sex organ that produces the gametes and sex hormones of an organism. Female reproductive cells are egg cells, and male reproductive cells are sperm. The male gonad, the testicle, ...

and gut. Tritons ingest smaller prey animals whole without troubling to paralyse them, and will spit out any poisonous spines, shells, or other unwanted parts later.

Species and subspecies

Species within the genus ''Charonia'' include: * '' Charonia guichemerrei'' Lozouet, 1998 † * ''

Charonia lampas ''Charonia lampas'', common name the pink lady, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Charoniidae. Distribution This marine species has a wide distribution: the North Sea, the North Atlantic Ocean (Azore ...

'' (

) * '' Charonia marylenae'' Petuch & Berschauer, 2020 * '' Charonia seguenzae'' (Aradas & Benoit, 1872) * ''

'' (

) * ''

'' (

, 1816) - Caribbean Triton's trumpet * '' Charonia veterior'' Lozouet, 1999 † ;Synonymized species: * ''Charonia capax'' Finlay, 1926: synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia digitalis'' (Reeve, 1844): synonym of '' Maculotriton serriale'' (Deshayes, 1834) * ''Charonia eucla'' Hedley, 1914 : synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia eucla instructa'' Iredale, 1929: synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia grandimaculatus'' Reeve: synonym of ''

Lotoria grandimaculata ''Lotoria grandimaculata'', common name : the large spotted triton, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusk in the family (biology), family Cymatiidae. Description The shell size varies between 50 ...

'' (Reeve, 1844) * '' Charonia maculosum'' Gmelin: synonym of ''

Colubraria maculosa ''Colubraria maculosa'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Colubrariidae. Description Distribution This species is found in the seas around Madagascar and Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of ...

'' (Gmelin, 1791) (new combination) * ''Charonia mirabilis'' Parenzan, 1970: synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia nodifera''(Lamarck, 1822): synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia poecilostoma'' Smith, 1915: synonym of '' Ranella gemmifera'' (Euthyme, 1889) * ''Charonia powelli'' Cotton, 1957 : synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia rubicunda'' (Perry, 1811): synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia sauliae'' (Reeve, 1844): synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia seguenzae'' (Aradas & Benoit, 1872): synonym of ''Charonia variegata'' (Lamarck, 1816) * ''Charonia variegatus'' Reeve: synonym of ''Charonia variegata'' (Lamarck, 1816) Charonia lampas sauliae 145a.jpg, ''

'' Charonia tritonis a1.jpg, ''

'' Charonia variegata c2.jpg, ''

References

* Beu A.G. 1998. ''Indo-West Pacific Ranellidae, Bursidae and Personidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda). A monograph of the New Caledonian fauna and revisions of related taxa''. Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 178: 1-255

External links

An article on the crown-of-thorns starfish
which contains excellent pictures of one being eaten by a triton. {{Authority control Charoniidae Gastropod genera Cenomanian genus first appearances Extant Late Cretaceous first appearances Taxa named by Johannes von Nepomuk Franz Xaver Gistel