''Drupella'' 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
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 ...
s,
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 ...
s 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 ...
Muricidae
Muricidae is a large and varied taxonomic family of small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks, commonly known as murex snails or rock snails. With over 1,700 living species, the Muricidae represent almost 10% of the Neog ...
, the murex snails or rock snails.
This genus was placed in the family Muricidae by Drivas & Jay, 1988 and by Richmond, 1997.
Description
''Drupella'' can be recognised by their extremely long, thin lateral teeth. The shells and
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 ...
e vary considerably even within species, complicating the taxonomy of the genus. The colour of the shell
aperture
In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...
varies from white to purple. Some species show
sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...
in their radulae, with males having larger rachidian teeth than females.
Diet
Snails of this genus are specialist predators of
coral
Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...
polyps.
Species
Species within the genus ''Drupella'' include:
* ''
Drupella cornus''
( Röding, 1798)
* ''
Drupella eburnea''
(Küster, 1862)
* ''
Drupella fragum''
( Blainville, 1832)
* ''
Drupella minuta''
Fujioka, 1984
* ''
Drupella rugosa''
(Born, 1778)
* ''
Drupella margariticola''
[MolluscaBase (2018). ''Drupella margariticola'' (Broderip, 1833). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=576817 on 2019-01-06]
; Species brought into synonymy :
* ''Drupella cariosa''
Wood: synonym of ''
Muricodrupa fenestrata''
( Blainville, 1832)
* ''Drupella fraga''
( Blainville, 1832) accepted as ''Drupella fragum''
( Blainville, 1832)
* ''Drupella ochrostoma''
( Blainville, 1832):
synonym of ''
Pascula ochrostoma
''Pascula ochrostoma'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.
Description
The shell size varies between
Distribution
This species is distributed in the Red Sea and in ...
''
( Blainville, 1832)
References
* Taylor, J.D. (1973). ''Provisional list of the mollusca of Aldabra Atoll''
External links
Ergalataxinae
{{Ergalataxinae-stub