''Faunus ater'' 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
brackish water
Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuary ...
snail with an
operculum, an
aquatic
Aquatic means relating to water; living in or near water or taking place in water; does not include groundwater, as "aquatic" implies an environment where plants and animals live.
Aquatic(s) may also refer to:
* Aquatic animal, either vertebrate ...
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
Pachychilidae
Pachychilidae, common name pachychilids, is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of freshwater snails, gastropod molluscs in the clade Sorbeoconcha.Gofas, S. (2014). Pachychilidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Sp ...
.
''Faunus ater'' is the only species within the genus ''Faunus''.
[Lok A. F. S. L., Ang W. F., Ng P. X., Ng B. Y. Q. & Tan S. K. (2011). "Status and distribution of ''Faunus ater'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mollusca: Cerithioidea) in Singapore". '']Nature in Singapore
Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the laws, elements and phenomena of the physical world, including life. Although humans are part ...
'' 4: 115-121
PDF
Distribution
The distribution of ''Faunus ater'' includes:
*
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
*
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
*
Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...
* Malaysia
*
Myanmar
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
*
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
*
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
*
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
*
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
*
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
* western and southern
Pacific Islands
The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...
:
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
[ Solem A. (1953). "Marine and fresh-water mollusks of the Solomon Islands". '']Fieldiana Zoology
The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educationa ...
'' 34(22): 213-227
page 220
* northern
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
*
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
Description
The
periostracum
The periostracum ( ) is a thin, organic coating (or "skin") that is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including molluscs and brachiopods. Among molluscs, it is primarily seen in snails and clams, i.e. in gastropods an ...
is thick, and the color of the periostracum is dark brown or black.
The shell has about 20
whorls
A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs).
In nature
File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagram ...
.
The apical whorls may be eroded in older snails.
The
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 ...
is ovate and white.
The
shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...
is unique among
Cerithioidea
The Cerithioidea is a Taxonomic rank, superfamily of marine, brackish water and freshwater Gastropoda, gastropod containing more than 200 genera. The Cerithioidea are included unassigned in the subclass Caenogastropoda. The original name of this ...
, because it has two deep sinuses: an anal sinus which is close to the
suture and an anterior sinus more forward in the aperture.
The height of the aperture is about one-fifth of the height of the shell.
The height of the shell is usually 50–60 mm, but can be up to 90 mm.
The
operculum is oval,
corneous
Corneous is a biological and medical term meaning horny, in other words made out of a substance similar to that of horns and hooves in some mammals.
The word is generally used to describe natural or pathological anatomical structures made o ...
and dark brown in color.
The snail has a broad
snout
A snout is the protruding portion of an animal's face, consisting of its nose, mouth, and jaw. In many animals, the structure is called a muzzle, Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum, beak or proboscis. The wet furless surface around the nostrils of the n ...
.
The
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 ...
is large and is located in a correspondingly large
buccal mass The buccal mass refers to the mouthparts of a number of animal groups, such as:
*Gastropods
*Cephalopods, which houses the cephalopod beak
All extant taxon, extant cephalopods have a two-part beak, or Rostrum (anatomy), rostrum, situated in the bu ...
.
Ecology
This snail lives in slightly
brackish water
Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuary ...
.
It has also been reported from freshwater.
It is the only pachychilid species that lives in brackish water; the other species in the family are
freshwater snail
Freshwater snails are gastropod mollusks that live in fresh water. There are many different families. They are found throughout the world in various habitats, ranging from ephemeral pools to the largest lakes, and from small seeps and springs t ...
s.
The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
can reach up to 6700 snails per m
2.
This snail probably feeds by
grazing
In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...
.
It is
oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...
.
It probably has free-swimming larvae.
Human use
This snail is used as a
food source for humans in the Philippines and in
Thailand
Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
.
References
Further reading
*
Gray J. E. (1867). "On the species of the genera ''Latiaxis'', ''Faunus'' and ''Melanatria''". ''
American Journal of Conchology
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
'' 3
330
* Houbrick R. S. (1991). "Anatomy and systematic placement of ''Faunus'' Montfort 1810 (Prosobranchia: Melanopsinae)". ''
Malacological Review'' 24: 35-54.
* Yap C. K., Hisyam M. N. D., Edward F. B., Cheng W. H. & Tan S. G. (2010). "Concentrations of heavy metal in different parts of the gastropod, ''Faunus ater'' (Linnaeus), collected from intertidal areas of Peninsular Malaysia". ''
Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science
The ''Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed open-access scientific journal published by UPM Press (University of Putra Malaysia). It covers all aspects of tropical agriculture research and related fields ...
'' 33(1): 45-60.
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5438244
Pachychilidae