| Faunus ater | |
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| A shell of Faunus ater | |
| Scientific classification | |
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| Genus: | Faunus de Montfort, 1810 |
| Species: | F. ater |
| Binomial name | |
| Faunus ater (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
Faunus ater is a species of brackish water snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Pachychilidae. [1]
Faunus ater is the only species within the genus Faunus. [1]
The distribution of Faunus ater includes:
The periostracum is thick, and the color of the periostracum is dark brown or black. [1] The shell has about 20 whorls. [1] The apical whorls may be eroded in older snails. [1] The aperture is ovate and white. [1] The shell is unique among Cerithioidea, because it has two deep sinuses: an anal sinus which is close to the suture and an anterior sinus more forward in the aperture. [1] The height of the aperture is about one-fifth of the height of the shell. [1]
The height of the shell is usually 50–60 mm, but can be up to 90 mm. [1]
The operculum is oval, corneous and dark brown in color. [1]
The snail has a broad snout. [1] The radula is large and is located in a correspondingly large buccal mass. [1]
This snail lives in slightly brackish water. [1] It has also been reported from freshwater. [1] It is the only pachychilid species that lives in brackish water; the other species in the family are freshwater snails.
The population density can reach up to 6700 snails per m2. [1]
This snail probably feeds by grazing. [1]
It is oviparous. [1] It probably has free-swimming larvae. [1]
This snail is used as a food source for humans in the Philippines and in Thailand. [1]
Media related to Faunus ater at Wikimedia Commons