Nucella emarginata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily:
Muricoidea
Family:
Muricidae
Subfamily:
Ocenebrinae
Genus:
Nucella
Species:
N. emarginata
Binomial name
Nucella emarginata
(Deshayes, 1839)
Synonyms[1]
  • Purpura emarginata Deshayes, 1839
  • Thais emarginata (Deshayes, 1839)

Nucella emarginata, common name the emarginate dogwinkle, is a species of medium-sized predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.[1]

Description

N. emarginata is a rocky intertidal gastropod carnivore that feeds on a variety of sessile and sedentary species such as barnacles, mussels, and limpets.[2] The adult shell size of this species can reach 25 mm or 30 mm.

Feeding

N. emarginata attacks prey by drilling. It has a special organ called the accessory boring organ, or ABO, that contains acid which it uses to dissolve a small hole in the shell of its prey.[3][4][5] When drilling, it alternates acid secretions with scraping by its radula until it has fully penetrated the prey's shell, leaving a characteristic hole about 1 mm in diameter.[5] The speed of this process likely depends on temperature,[6] and the size of the hole depends on the size of the dogwhelk's accessory boring organ, which is generally larger in larger dogwhelks.[7] Finally, when the hole is complete, the dogwhelk inserts its proboscis into the hole to feed.

Distribution

This species lives in mid-intertidal zones and often lives among mussels such as Mytilus californianus.[8] Formerly known as N. ostrina, the two species were differentiated based on shell morphology, reproductive compatibility, and genetic sequencing in 1990.[8] N. emarginata is now known to be distributed between Fort Point, California and Pacific Mexico.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 Nucella emarginata (Deshayes, 1839). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 10 January 2011.
  2. ↑ West, L., 1986. Interindividual variation in prey selection by the snail Nucella (= Thais) emarginata. Ecology 67, 798–809. https://doi.org/10.2307/1937702
  3. ↑ Gruber, G.L., Carriker, M.R., 1990. A note on the accessory boring organ and shell boring by the "Loco", Concholepas concholepas (Muricidae, Gastropoda). Bulletin of Marine Science 47, 739–744.
  4. ↑ Carriker, M.R., Gruber, G.L., 1999. Uniqueness of the Gastropod Accessory Boring Organ (ABO) Comparative Biology, an Update. Journal of Shellfish Research 18, 579–595.
  5. 1 2 Carriker, M.R., 1981. Shell penetration and feeding by Naticacean and Muricacean predatory gastropods: a synthesis. Malacologia 20, 403–422
  6. ↑ Miller, L.P., 2013. The effect of water temperature on drilling and ingestion rates of the dogwhelk Nucella lapillus feeding on Mytilus edulis mussels in the laboratory. Marine Biology 160, 1489–1496. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-013-2202-z
  7. ↑ Kowalewski, M., 2004. Drill holes produced by the predatory gastropod Nucella lamellosa (Muricidae): Palaeobiological and ecological implications. Journal of Molluscan Studies 70, 359–370. https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/70.4.359
  8. 1 2 Palmer, A., Gayron, S., Woodruff, D., 1990. Reproductive, morphological, and genetic evidence for two cryptic species of Northeastern Pacific Nucella. The Veliger 33, 15.
  9. ↑ Marko PB (1998) Historical allopatry and the biogeography of speciation in the prosobranch snail genus Nucella. Evolution (NY) 52:757–774
  • Marko P.B., Palmer A.R. & Vermeij G.J. (2003) Resurrection of Nucella ostrina (Gould, 1852), lectotype designation for N. emarginata (Deshayes, 1839), and molecular genetic evidence of Pleistocene speciation. The Veliger 46(1): 77-85
  • "Nucella emarginata". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  • A Snail's Oddyssey: Whelks and Relatives
  • Deshayes, G. P. (1839). Nouvelles espèces de mollusques, provenant des côtes de la Californie, du Mexique, du Kamtschatka et de la Nouvelle-Zélande. Revue Zoologique par la Société Cuvierienne. (1839) 2 (12): 356-361
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