Nassarius
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 Nassarius tiarula
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Nassarius, common names nassa mud snails (USA) or dog whelks (UK), is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Nassariidae, the nassa mud snails or dog whelks.
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[edit] Distribution
Species within this genus are found worldwide.
[edit] Habitat
These snails usually live on mud flats or sand flats, intertidally or subtidally.
[edit] Life habits
Most Nassarius species are very active scavengers, feeding on such things as dead fish, etc. They often burrow into marine substrates and then wait with their siphons stuck out into the water until they smell nearby food.
[edit] Shell decription
These snails have oval shells with a relatively high spire and a siphonal notch.
[edit] Anatomy
The animal has a long siphon.
[edit] Human use
[edit] Modern information
Nassarius vibex is a species often selected for marine aquaria. It is often confused with the Nassarius_obsoletus, which is a cooler water snail less suited to marine temperatures.
The shells of various species of Nassarius are popular with shell collectors, and are sometimes used in jewellry and other forms of decoration.
[edit] Archeological information
Several beads made from Nassarius gibbosulus shells are thought to be the earliest known forms of personal adornment, or even jewelry. Two shell beads found in Skhul Cave on the slopes of Mount Carmel, Israel are thought to be 100,000 years old, whilst another found at Oued Djebbana, Algeria is believed to be 90,000 years old. A further group of pierced shells, some with red ochre, has been recovered from the Aterian levels at Grotte des Pigeons, Taforalt, Morocco; these Nassarius gibbosulus beads have been securely dated to about 82,000 years ago [1]. All these examples predate several 75,000 year old Nassarius kraussianus beads found at Blombos Cave, South Africa, also including some colored with red ochre, that were previously thought to be the oldest examples of jewelry. [2]
[edit] Species
- Nassarius acutus (Say, 1822) - sharp nassa
- Nassarius albus (Say, 1826) - antilles nassa, white nassa
- Nassarius angulicostis (Pilsbry and Lowe, 1932)
- Nassarius antillarum (d'Orbigny, 1842) - Antilles nassa
- Nassarius aoteanus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Nassarius arcularius Finlay, 1927
- Nassarius catallus (Dall, 1908)
- Nassarius cerritensis (Arnold, 1903)
- Nassarius consensus (Ravenel, 1861) - striate nassa
- Nassarius crematus (Hinds, 1844)
- Nassarius cremmatus
- Nassarius delosi (Woodring, 1946)
- Nassarius ephamillus (Watson, 1882)
- Nassarius fossatus (Gould, 1850) - channeled nassa
- Nassarius fraterculus (Dunker, 1860) - Japanese nassa
- Nassarius gallegosi Strong and Hertlein, 1937
- Nassarius glans particeps (Hedley, 1915)
- Nassarius guaymasensis (Pilsbry and Lowe, 1932)
- Nassarius hotessieri (d'Orbigny, 1845) - miniature nassa
- Nassarius howardae Chace, 1958
- Nassarius incrassatus (Stroem, 1768)
- Nassarius insculptus (Carpenter, 1864) - smooth western nassa
- Nassarius iodes (Dall, 1917)
- Nassarius limacinus (Dall, 1917)
- Nassarius luteostoma Broderip and Sowerby, 1829
- Nassarius mendicus (Gould, 1850) - lean western nassa
- Nassarius miser (Dall, 1908)
- Nassarius moestus (Hinds, 1844)
- Nassarius nanus
- Nassarius nigrolabra (Verrill, 1880)
- Nassarius obsoletus (Say, 1822) - eastern mudsnail
- Nassarius olomea Kay, 1979
- Nassarius onchodes (Dall, 1917)
- Nassarius pagodus (Reeve, 1844)
- Nassarius papillosus (Gould, 1850)
- Nassarius perpinguis (Hinds, 1844) - fat western nassa
- Nassarius polygonatus (Lamarck, 1822)
- Nassarius pygmaeus Lamarck, 1822
- Nassarius reticulatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Nassarius rhinetes S. S. Berry, 1953 - California nassa
- Nassarius scissuratus (Dall, 1889) - carved nassa
- Nassarius shaskyi Mclean, 1970
- Nassarius spiratus (A. Adams, 1852)
- Nassarius splendidulus (Dunker, 1846)
- Nassarius tiarula (Kiener, 1841) - western mud nassa
- Nassarius trivittatus (Say, 1822) - threeline mudsnail
- Nassarius versicolor (C. B. Adams, 1852)
- Nassarius vibex (Say, 1822) - bruised nassa
[edit] References
- ^ Bouzouggar, A., Barton, N., Vanhaeren, M., d'Errico, F., Collcutt, S., Higham, T., Hodge, E., Parfitt, S., Rhodes, E., Schwenninger, J.-L., Stringer, C., Turner, E., Ward, S., Moutmir, A. and Stambouli, A. 2007. "82,000-year-old shell beads from North Africa and implications for the origins of modern human behavior" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, June 4, 2007; http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/0703877104v1
- ^ Study reveals 'oldest jewellery', BBC News, 22 June 2006
