''Hastula cinerea'', the grey Atlantic auger, 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), ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Terebridae The Terebridae, commonly referred to as auger shells or auger snails, is a Family (biology), family of predatory marine (ocean), marine gastropods in the superfamily Conoidea.Gofas, S. (2012). Terebridae. World Register of Marine Specie2012-10-12 ...

, the auger snails.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Hastula cinerea (Born, 1778). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=225109 on 2020-02-02

Description

The length of the shell varies between 16 mm and 68 mm. Protoconch is a very dark/black sharp tip, and a horny brown operculum is present. No periostracum, shell is glossy overall. They tend to have larger feet because it helps stabilize themselves into the sand due to the species of sea snail living in a more active zone of the ocean.

Distribution

This shallow-water species occurs in the Atlantic Ocean off

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Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

and

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 ...

; in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

, the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

and the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

; in the Indian Ocean off

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. Hastula cinerea are mostly found in intertidal zones, but can also be found in high water-line zones.

References

* Dautzenberg, Ph. (1929). ''Contribution à l'étude de la faune de Madagascar: Mollusca marina testacea. Faune des colonies françaises, III(fasc. 4).'' Société d'Editions géographiques, maritimes et coloniales: Paris. 321–636, plates IV-VII pp. * Bouchet P. (1983 1982" ''Les Terebridae (Mollusca, Gastropoda) de l'Atlantique oriental.'' Bollettino Malacologico 18: 185–216. * Bratcher T. & Cernohorsky W.O. (1987). L''iving terebras of the world. A monograph of the recent Terebridae of the world.'' American Malacologists, Melbourne, Florida & Burlington, Massachusetts. 240pp. * Luiz, R., & Simone. (n.d.). ''Comparative morphology and systematics of Brazilian Terebridae (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Conoidea), with descriptions of three new species''. http://www.moluscos.org/trabalhos/1999/Simone%201999%20Terebridae.pdf * Luz, Matos, A. S., Cristina, & Matthews-Cascon, H. (2023). Variation in hypodermic radular teeth of the snail auger Hastula cinerea (Born, 1778) (Gastropoda:Terebridae). ''Zoology'', ''158'', 126083–126083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.zool.2023.126083 * Terryn Y. (2007). ''Terebridae: A Collectors Guide.'' Conchbooks & NaturalArt. 59pp + plates. * ''Vista do On Hastula cinerea''. (2024). Revistas.usp.br. https://www.revistas.usp.br/bffclzoologia/article/view/120433/117541

External links

Adams, C. B. 1850. Description of supposed new species of marine shells which inhabit Jamaica. Contributions to Conchology, 4: 56-68, 109-123

Rosenberg, G.; Moretzsohn, F.; García, E. F. (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. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas

Fedosov, A. E.; Malcolm, G.; Terryn, Y.; Gorson, J.; Modica, M. V.; Holford, M.; Puillandre, N. (2020). Phylogenetic classification of the family Terebridae (Neogastropoda: Conoidea). Journal of Molluscan Studies
* Terebridae Gastropods described in 1778 Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean Molluscs of the Indian Ocean {{terebridae-stub