| Nucella emarginata | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Neogastropoda |
| Family: | Muricidae |
| Genus: | Nucella |
| Species: | N. emarginata |
| Binomial name | |
| Nucella emarginata (Deshayes, 1839) | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Nucella emarginata, commonly named 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]
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.
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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.
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]
