Bolinus cornutus

Bolinus cornutus
Shell of a Bolinus cornutus specimen from Mauritania
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Muricoidea
Family: Muricidae
Subfamily: Muricinae
Genus: Bolinus
Species: B. cornutus
Binomial name
Bolinus cornutus
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms[1]

Aranea conspicua Perry, 1811
Murex (Bolinus) cornutus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Murex cornutus Linnaeus, 1758
Murex tumulosus Sowerby, 1841

Bolinus cornutus, or Horned Murex, is a predatory species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, often referred to as the murex or rock snails.[1] It is common along the west coast of Africa, where it prefers moderately shallow waters. The shell of the snail is distinctively large, spiny, and club-shaped, usually pale brown or tan in colour, with an elongated and straight siphonal canal.

Description

The Bolinus cornutus snail inhabits moderately shallow waters and prefers gravelled or rocky substrate. It is carnivorous and predatory.[2]

Although not as widely utilised as other Murex species, such as Bolinus brandaris, B. cornutus is one of the sea snail species from which a rich purple dye, generally referred to as Tyrian purple, can be extracted. The dye is a mucus from the snail's hypobranchial gland, which is secreted for defence and as an aid in predation.[2][3]

Bolinus cornutus is protected by a large, thick, spiny shell, club-shaped and with a broad body whorl. The maximum length of the shell is approximately 200 millimetres. Its spire is low and the body whorl has six or seven varices, each varix forming two long, hollow spines. Short spines also spiral off the long, straight siphonal canal of the shell, which is narrowly open along its length. The buff or tan shell colour is interrupted on the body whorl by three darker brown spiral bands, spaced evenly. The majority of the ovate aperture of the shell is white, with an "apricot" shade on the lip edge, the inductura, and the parietal callus. Most of the outer surface of the shell is rough in texture.[4][2][5][6]

Distribution

B. cornutus is found along the Atlantic coast of Africa and is not an uncommon species.[4][7]

References

  1. ^ a b Bolinus cornutus (Linnaeus, 1758).  Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=140390 on 24 April 2010.
  2. ^ a b c Abbott, R. Tucker; Morris, Percy A. (2001). A Field Guide to Shells: Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and the West Indies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 207. ISBN 9780618164394. 
  3. ^ Joseph, Vercauteren; Chèze, Catherine; Triaud, J. (15–18 July 1996). "Polyphenols 96: 18th International Conference on Polyphenols". Bordeaux, France: Editions Quae. p. 55. ISBN 9782738007964. 
  4. ^ a b Radwin, George E.; D'Attilio, Anthony (1976). Murex shells of the world: an illustrated guide to the Muricidae. Standford University Press. p. 29. ISBN 9780804708975. 
  5. ^ Ardovini, Roberto; Cossignani, Tiziano (2004). West African seashells: including Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands. L'informatore piceno. p. 142. ISBN 9788886070119. 
  6. ^ Rogers, Julia Ellen (1908). The Shell Book. New York: Doubleday, Page & Company. p. 32. ISBN 9781419152924. 
  7. ^ Abbott, Robert Tucker; Dance, S. Peter (1986). Compendium of seashells: a color guide to more than 4,200 of the world's marine shells. American Malacologists. p. 138. ISBN 9780915826179.