Charonia tritonis
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| Charonia tritonis | ||||||||||||||
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| Charonia tritonis (Linnaeus, 1758) |
Charonia tritonis, common name Triton's trumpet, is a species of very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Ranellidae, the tritons.
Also see Charonia or Triton (mollusk).
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[edit] Distribution
This species is found throughout the Indo-Pacific oceans.
[edit] Shell description
The shell has a tall spire and dilated outer-lip, strongly plicate parietal wall and columella, broad flattened spiral ridges, a crenulated suture, and a striking colour pattern of reddish-brown lunate maculations on a cream to orange-buff ground. The interior of the aperture is reddish-orange, radially banded in brown at the outer-lip - the inner-lip has dark sepia streaks between the plications.
The shell height is up to 35 cm, and the width is up to 18 cm.
[edit] Life habits
Charonia tritonis has separate sexes and undergoes sexual reproduction with internal fertilization. The female deposits white capsules in clusters, each of which contains many developing larvae. The larvae emerge free-swimming and enter the plankton, where they drift in open water for up to three months.
Adult Charonia tritonis are active predators and feed on other molluscs and starfish, gaining fame for their ability to capture and eat crown-of-thorns starfish.
[edit] Human use
The shell is well-known as a decorative object, and is sometimes modified for use as a trumpet.
[edit] References
- Powell A W B, New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
