Tenguella marginalba | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
Order: | Neogastropoda |
Superfamily: | Muricoidea |
Family: | Muricidae |
Subfamily: | Ergalataxinae |
Genus: | Tenguella |
Species: | T. marginalba |
Binomial name | |
Tenguella marginalba (Blainville, 1832) | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Tenguella marginalba is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. It is commonly known as the mulberry whelk and is found in shallow waters in the Indo-Pacific and around the north and east coasts of Australia.
The mulberry whelk has a strong, robust shell and can grow to about 35 mm (1.4 in) but a more normal adult size is 20 mm (0.8 in). Each body whorl has five rows of purple or blackish, roughly square, nodules separated by pale grey areas with fine sculptured vertical and horizontal lines. The lip is curved with four similar-sized ridges or teeth on its inner surface. The columella, or central axis, is white and is stout with a smooth surface. The interior of the shell is purple-grey, contrasting with the cream teeth and lip. [2] [3]
The mulberry whelk is found on the north and east coasts of Australia and on islands in the central Indo-Pacific Ocean. In Australia, its range extends from the north west tip to Twofold Bay in New South Wales. It is common on rocks in the intertidal zone [2] where adults hide in cracks. It is also found in estuaries where it is known as the black oyster borer because it feeds on oysters where it is regarded as a pest. [3]
The mulberry whelk is a predator feeding almost exclusively on molluscs and barnacles. It has an extensible rasping radula with which it drills a hole through it victim's shell. The process is believed to be assisted by the sulphuric acid it produces in its salivary glands which helps to soften and dissolve the calcium carbonate in the mollusc's shell. It then uses its radula to cut the soft body of its victim in pieces before sucking the semidigested mass out. [3] The mulberry whelk does not usually move around much when both crevices in which to hide and prey species are in the vicinity. This is in contrast to the rather similar Thais orbita which makes foraging movements up the beach well away from the sheltered niches to which it retreats at low tide. [4] Favoured prey includes oysters and the limpet Patelloida latistrigata . The barnacle Chamaesipho columna was also eaten, but was avoided when more attractive prey was present. [5]
The dog whelk, dogwhelk, or Atlantic dogwinkle is a species of predatory sea snail, a carnivorous marine gastropod in the family Muricidae, the rock snails.
Muricidae is a large and varied taxonomic family of small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks, commonly known as murex snails or rock snails. With over 1,700 living species, the Muricidae represent almost 10% of the Neogastropoda. Additionally, 1,200 fossil species have been recognized. Numerous subfamilies are recognized, although experts disagree about the subfamily divisions and the definitions of the genera. Many muricids have unusual shells which are considered attractive by shell collectors and by interior designers.
The knobbed whelk is a species of very large predatory sea snail, or in the US, a whelk, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Busyconidae, the busycon whelks.
A molluscivore is a carnivorous animal that specialises in feeding on molluscs such as gastropods, bivalves, brachiopods and cephalopods. Known molluscivores include numerous predatory molluscs,, arthropods such as crabs and firefly larvae, and, vertebrates such as fish, birds and mammals. Molluscivory is performed in a variety ways with some animals highly adapted to this method of feeding behaviour. A similar behaviour, durophagy, describes the feeding of animals that consume hard-shelled or exoskeleton bearing organisms, such as corals, shelled molluscs, or crabs.
Urosalpinx cinerea, common name the eastern oyster drill, Atlantic oyster drill, or just Oyster Drill, is a species of small predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murexes or rock snails.
Dicathais is a genus of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Muricidae, the rock snails. This genus is monotypic; the only species in it is Dicathais orbita, common name the white rock shell or cart-rut shell, found round the coasts of Australia and New Zealand.
Stramonita haemastoma, common name the red-mouthed rock shell or the Florida dog winkle, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae, the rock snails.
Lunella ogasawarana is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Turbinidae, the turban snails.
Drupina grossularia, common name : the finger drupe, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.
Azumamorula mutica, common name the smooth ricinula, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. It is the only species in genus Azumamorula.
Tenguella granulata, common name the mulberry shell or the granulated drupe, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.
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.
Nucella lamellosa, commonly known as the frilled dogwinkle or wrinkled purple whelk, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. This species occurs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, its range extending in the intertidal zone from the Aleutian Islands southward to central California.
Nucella ostrina, the northern striped dogwinkle, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. Other common names for this mollusk include emarginate dogwinkle, short-spired purple dogwinkle, striped dogwinkle, ribbed dogwinkle, emarginate whelk, ribbed rock whelk, rock thais, short-spired purple snail and rock whelk.
Drupa is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. It occurs in the Indo-Pacific.
Morula is a genus of small, predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the subfalily Ergalataxinae of the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.
Muricodrupa is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Ergalataxinae of the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.
Saccostrea cucullata, the hooded oyster or Natal rock oyster, is a species of rock oyster found mainly in the Indo-Pacific Ocean.
Tenguella is a genus of small, predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.