Muricidae

Chicoreus palma rosae

The whelks ( Muricidae ) are a family very often bizarre bestachelter, almost exclusively of marine snails. Almost all members of the family are predators. Of the approximately 16,000 recent Neogastropoda account for about 10% or 1,600 species in the family Muricidae. More about 1,200 species are fossil occupied.

Features

The housings are rechtsgewunden and show a very wide variety of housing shapes. It ranges from ovoid to hochtrochospiral. Some species show a bizarre spines with a long Siphonalkanal. The radula ( rasping tongue ) is usually long and shows three elements per transverse row. Many species possess an accessory at the foot bore organ (ABO ), with the help of which they can dissolve lime and so drill through simultaneous rasping with the radula holes in shells of mussels, snails or barnacles.

The ontogenetic development proceeds in a subset of species on pelagic plankton -eating veliger larvae. So it is with representatives of the subfamilies Rapaninae (eg Concholepas Concholepas ) and Ergalataxinae. In other species the development Nähreier runs. The development of most eggs stops very early; these are then eaten by the few developing embryos. Other strategies are available (eg deposition of large amounts of egg white ). In species with yolk-rich eggs or with Nähreiern development to metamorphosis is usually held in the egg capsules, so that hatch from these finished worm. This is for example in the known purple snails as Bolinus brandaris, Hexaplex trunculus and the Nordic Purpurschnecke Nucella lapillus the case. A transition can be in different species of the genus Murex (eg Murex tribulus and Murex pecten ) see where there are Nähreier and the pelagic phase of Veliger only takes a few days. In Murex trapa even both development paths have been observed: even a half -day planktonic phase and once a complete development in the egg capsule.

Life, the occurrence and distribution

Most species live in shallow water and are found in all seas. However, its main application area is unique in the tropical and subtropical waters. Only a few species live in the deep sea (up to about 3500 m). A few species not go into brackish water, but to fresh water. They live on hard and soft substrates. Most species are predators of a wide range of prey ( molluscs, tunicates, crustaceans, polychaetes ). Among these modes, the ability to drill is widely used. Other species graze more and live on sponges, corals and possibly algae. Some species have specialized in polyps of corals and tropical coral reefs, the damage was significant.

Some species

In the North Sea and Baltic Sea, the whelks are represented by the Nordic purple snail ( Nucella lapillus ). In the Mediterranean, common species are the Hercules club ( Bolinus brandaris ) and the Blunt murex ( Hexaplex trunculus ), both of which are traditionally used by people as a purple worm. In the Northeast Atlantic also is the Ribbed purple snail ( Ocenebra erinacea ) to find which is due to their food preferences as some of their relatives also called oyster drills. At the African Atlantic coast occurs the Horned murex ( Bolinus cornutus ), which is similar to the Hercules club, but is significantly greater. A particularly large species richness there is in the Indo-Pacific, where the largest species of the family, the Murex ( Chicoreus ramosus ) is frequent. Other species are among others the Schnepf head ( Haustellum haustellum ) having held spines only nodes, as well as some species with highly trained spines, including the Great spinning head ( Murex tribulus ), the Venus comb snail ( Murex pecten ), the scorpion worm ( Homalocantha scorpio ) and Chicoreus palma rosae. Found on the South American Pacific coast is among others the type Concholepas Concholepas whose populations have declined by fishing in the Caribbean Sea, the short Thorny murex ( Chicoreus brevifrons ) and the apple murex ( Phyllonotus pomum ), pierced with their strong Radulazähnen and thick shells. Thanks to the people with the oyster farm in the North Sea and other parts of the world species are displaced in particular the living at the North American Atlantic coast Urosalpinx cinerea and originating from the seas of East Asia Rapana venosa.

System

The Muricidae family is divided by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) in ten subfamilies:

  • Muricinae Rafinesque, 1815
  • Coralliophilinae Chenu, 1859
  • Ergalataxinae Kuroda, Have & Oyama, 1971
  • House Trinae Tan, 2003
  • Muricopsinae Radwin & D' Attilio, 1971
  • Ocenebrinae Cossmann, 1903
  • Rapaninae Gray, 1853
  • Tripterotyphinae d' Attilio & Hertz, 1988
  • Trophoninae Cossmann, 1903
  • Typhinae Cossmann, 1903
Chicoreus palmarosae Caenogastropoda Sorbeoconcha Constantine Samuel Rafinesque Extant taxon Venus comb murex Veined rapa whelk
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