Flamingo tongue snail

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Flamingo tongue snail
Cyphoma gibbosum (living) 2.jpg
Feeding on a soft coral; the siphon is visible at the top, and the tip of the tail is visible at the bottom. A large feeding scar is visible as a brown stripe on the coral. These snails are pink and orange.
Cyphoma gibbosum 01.JPG
Five views of a shell of Cyphoma gibbosum (Linné, 1758)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Ovulidae
Genus: Cyphoma
Species:
C. gibbosum
Binomial name
Cyphoma gibbosum
Synonyms [1]
List
  • Bulla gibbosa Linnaeus, 1758
  • Cyphoma alleneaeCate, 1973
  • Cyphoma dorsatum Röding, 1798
  • Cyphoma finkliPetuch, 1979
  • Cyphoma gibbosa(Linnaeus, 1758) (error in gender ending)
  • Cyphoma lindaePetuch, 1987
  • Cyphoma macumbaPetuch, 1979 (uncertain synonym)
  • Cyphoma mcgintyi Pilsbry, 1939
  • Cyphoma precursor Dall, 1897
  • Cyphoma robustior Bayer, 1941
  • Cyphoma signata Pilsbry & McGinty, 1939 (error in gender ending)
  • Cyphoma signatum Pilsbry & McGinty, 1939
  • Ovula pharetra Perry, 1811
  • Ovula rostrata Mörch, 1877
Flamingo Tongue Snail with part of its body out of the shell Flamingo Tongue Part out of shell.jpg
Flamingo Tongue Snail with part of its body out of the shell

The flamingo tongue snail (Cyphoma gibbosum) is a species of small but brightly colored sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries. [2]

Contents

Taxonomy

A 2017 DNA analysis confirmed that Cyphoma signatum and Cyphoma mcgintyi are genetically homogenous with Cyphoma gibbosum, and that each type are morphological variations of a single species. [3]

Description

Alive, the snail appears bright orange-yellow in color with black markings. However, these colors are not in the shell, but are only due to live mantle tissue which usually covers the shell. The mantle flaps can be retracted, exposing the shell, but this usually happens only when the animal is attacked.

The shells reach on average 25–35 mm (0.98–1.38 in) of length, with a minimum size of 18 mm (0.71 in) and a maximum shell length of 45 mm (1.8 in). [4] The shape is usually elongated and the dorsum shows a thick transversal ridge. The dorsum surface is smooth and shiny and may be white or orange, with no markings at all except a longitudinal white or cream band. The base and the interior of a C. gibbosum shell is white or pinkish, with a wide aperture.

Distribution and habitat

This is the most common of several species in the genus Cyphoma, which lives in the tropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina to northern coast of Brazil, including off Bermuda, in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and off the Lesser Antilles. [5]

The minimum recorded depth is 0.3 m, and the maximum recorded depth is 90 m. [4]

Ecology

Flamingo tongue on a sea rod Cyphoma gibbosum 001.jpg
Flamingo tongue on a sea rod

The minimum recorded depth is at the surface, and the maximum recorded depth is 29 m. [4]

The flamingo tongue snail feeds by browsing on the living tissues of the soft corals on which it lives. Common prey include Briareum spp., Gorgonia spp., Plexaura spp., and Plexaurella spp. Adult females of C. gibbosum attach eggs to coral which they have recently fed upon. After roughly 10 days, the larvae hatch. They are planktonic and eventually settle onto other gorgonian corals. Juveniles tend to remain on the underside of coral branches, while adults are far more visible and mobile. An adult scrapes the polyps off the coral with its radula, leaving an easily visible feeding scar on the coral. However, the corals can regrow the polyps, so predation by C. gibbosum is generally not lethal.

Conservation status

This species used to be common, but it has become rather uncommon in heavily visited areas because of over-collecting by snorkelers and scuba divers, who make the mistake of thinking that the bright colors are in the shell of the animal.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cypraeidae</span> Family of gastropods

Cypraeidae, commonly named the cowries, is a taxonomic family of small to large sea snails. These are marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ovulidae</span> Family of gastropods

Ovulidae, common names the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries, is a family of small to large predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and the cowry allies.

<i>Cyphoma</i> Genus of gastropods

Cyphoma is a genus of predatory tropical sea snails, a taxonomic group of marine gastropod molluscs in the family Ovulidae, a family which is sometimes known as the false cowries or cowry allies.

<i>Cypraea tigris</i> Species of gastropod

Cypraea tigris, commonly known as the tiger cowrie, is a species of cowry, a large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eocypraeidae</span> Family of gastropods

Eocypraeidae is a small family of large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies.

<i>Calpurnus verrucosus</i> Species of gastropod

Calpurnus verrucosus, the Umbilical Egg Shell or Warty/Little Egg Cowry, is a species of sea snail, a cowry, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the cowries.

Cymbovula acicularis is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.

Cyphoma aureocinctum, common name : the gold-banded egg shell, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.

Cyphoma emarginatum, common name : the Emarginate Cyphoma, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.

<i>Cyphoma intermedium</i> Species of gastropod

Cyphoma intermedium, common name : intermediate egg shell, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.

Cyphoma macumba is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.

Cyphoma sedlaki is a species of sea snail in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.

Cyphoma versicolor is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.

<i>Ovula ovum</i> Species of gastropod

Ovula ovum, common name the common egg cowrie, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.

<i>Procalpurnus semistriatus</i> Species of gastropod

Procalpurnus semistriatus is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.

<i>Amonovula piriei</i> Species of gastropod

Amonovula piriei is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.

<i>Sandalia meyeriana</i> Species of gastropod

Sandalia meyeriana is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.

<i>Simnialena uniplicata</i> Species of gastropod

Simnialena uniplicata, common name the one-tooth simnia, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries. It lives on the sea whip, Leptogorgia virgulata.

Testudovolva nipponensis is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.

Aspergillus sydowii is a pathogenic fungus that causes several diseases in humans. It has been implicated in the death of sea fan corals in the Caribbean Sea.

References

  1. ↑ Gary Rosenberg (2013). "Cyphoma gibbosum (Linnaeus, 1758)". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  2. ↑ Rosenberg, G. (2010). Cyphoma gibbosum (Linnaeus, 1758). In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at www.marinespecies.org on 2017-06-27
  3. ↑ Reijnen, Bastian T.; Van Der Meij, Sancia E.T. (2017). "Coat of many colours—DNA reveals polymorphism of mantle patterns and colouration in Caribbean Cyphoma Röding, 1798 (Gastropoda, Ovulidae)". PeerJ. 5: e3018. doi: 10.7717/peerj.3018 . PMC   5337085 . PMID   28265504.
  4. 1 2 3 Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLOS One 5(1): e8776. doi : 10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.
  5. ↑ Hardy, Eddie. "Cyphoma gibbosum". www.gastropods.com.

Further reading

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