Acanthinucella spirata

Acanthinucella spirata
A live Acanthinucella spirata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Muricidae
Genus:	Acanthinucella
Species:	A. spirata
Binomial name
Acanthinucella spirata (Blainville, 1832)
Synonyms [1]
Monoceros unicarinata Sowerby I, 1835 Purpura brevidensConrad, 1837 Purpura engonataConrad, 1837 Purpura lapilloides var. aurantiaDall, 1908 Purpura spirataBlainville, 1832

Acanthinucella spirata is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. ^[1]

Biology

This species is predatory, preying on the genus Littorina. Its egg capsules are 4-9 mm long, and hold 17-49 embryos. It uses paralytic venom, presumably to hunt its prey. ^[2]

Distribution

A. spirata occurs on the West Coast, or the Pacific Ocean coast of North America, living in rocky intertidal zones. ^[3]

Human use

This species is known to have been exploited by some Native Americans such as the Chumash of Central California approximately 1000 to 1200 AD. ^[4]

References

1. Acanthinucella spirata (Blainville, 1832) . Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species  on 24 April 2010.
2. Hemingway, George (1978). "Evidence for a paralytic venom in the intertidal snail, Acanthina spirata (Neogastropoda: Thaisidae)". ScienceDirect. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
3. Cowles, Dave (2005). "Acanthina spirata". inverts.wallawalla.edu. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
4. C. Michael Hogan, Los Osos Back Bay, Megalithic Portal, editor A. Burnham (2008)

External links

• Flagor, Torre E.; Bourdeau, Paul E. (12 September 2018). "First record of the predatory snail Acanthinucella spirata (Blainville, 1832) north of its known range". Marine Biodiversity Records. 11 (1): 19. Bibcode:2018MBdR...11...19F. doi: 10.1186/s41200-018-0156-z . ISSN   1755-2672.