''Linatella caudata'', common name : the Girdled triton or Poulsen's Triton, 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), ...

predatory 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 feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

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 ...

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 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 ...

Cymatiidae Cymatiidae is a family of large sea snails in the superfamily Tonnoidea and the order Littorinimorpha. Members of this family are predators. Genera The family Cymatiidae contains the following genera: * '' Argobuccinum'' Herrmannsen, 1846 * '' ...

Distribution

This species is very widespread (but uncommon). It is present in European waters, in the Mediterraneal Sea, in the Western Atlantic from South Carolina to Brazil, in the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

, in the Red Sea and in the Indian Ocean along

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and in the Indo-West Pacific as far north as southern Japan.

Habitat

These sea snails are usually found in

seagrass meadow A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries. Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems and ...

s. They live only on soft substrates on the shelf at depths of 20 to 200 m.Tritons & Trumpet Shell (Phylum Mollusca: Family Ranellidae) of Singapore
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Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 35 mm and 100 mm. These medium-sized shells are extremely variable in size, thickness, prominence, quantity of flare of the outer lip and thickness and width of the inner lip. Also very variable are the spire height and the intensity of the surface coloration. Commonly they have a hairy appearance and are solid and thick and show a Tonna-like form and moderately tall spire, with a very weak sculpture of low, weakly convex surfaced, spiral cords. The whorls are weak shouldered. They lack obvious varices or only the terminal varix is developed. The outer lip is flared and slightly thickened, with weakly shouldered whorls. The anterior siphonal canal is moderately long. The interior of outer lip flare has sixteen low transverse ridges. The exterior surface of the shell varies between cream to pale yellowish-brown, with irregular, narrow light and darker bands. The body of these sea snails are brownish with black spots.

Biology

These sea snails have been reported as feeding on Fan Shells (''

Pinna bicolor ''Pinna bicolor'', also known as razorfish, razor clam, or pen shell, is a species of large saltwater clam in the family ''Pinnidae''. It is commonly found in shallow waters up to deep. It can be found embedded in firm muddy intertidal sediment ...

'') and on the pearl oyster (''

Pinctada imbricata ''Pinctada imbricata'' is a species of bivalve belonging to the family Pteriidae. The species has almost cosmopolitan distribution In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the ...

''). Consequently, they are considered a serious problem for the aquaculture of marine bivalves.

References

External links

Cote Bleue

Bibliography

* Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2015). Cymatium cutaceum (Lamarck, 1816). * Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). ''Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification.'' Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213 * Rolán E., 2005. ''Malacological Fauna From The Cape Verde Archipelago. Part 1, Polyplacophora and Gastropoda''. * Spry, J.F. (1961). ''The sea shells of Dar es Salaam: Gastropods''. Tanganyika Notes and Records 56 * Turgeon, D. D., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, W. K. Emerson, W. G. Lyons, W. Pratt, et al. (1988) Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: mollusks, American Fisheries Society Special Publication 16 * Turgeon, D. D., J. F. Quinn, Jr., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, F. G. Hochberg, W. G. Lyons, et al. (1998) Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks, 2nd ed., American Fisheries Society Special Publication 26 {{Taxonbar, from=Q3167323 Cymatiidae Gastropods described in 1791 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean Molluscs of the Indian Ocean Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Molluscs of the Mediterranean Sea