Lobatus raninus

Hawk-wing conch
Five views of a shell of Lobatus raninus (Gmelin, 1791)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Clade: Caenogastropoda
Clade: Hypsogastropoda
Clade: Littorinimorpha
Family: Strombidae
Genus: Lobatus
Species: L. raninus
Binomial name
Lobatus raninus
(Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms[1]
  • Strombus bituberculatus Lamarck, 1822
  • Strombus costosomuricatus Mörch, 1852
  • Strombus fetus Jung & Heitz, 2001
  • Strombus lobatus Swainson, 1823
  • Strombus praeraninus Kronenberg & Dekker, 2000 (Unnecessary new name for S. wilsonorum Petuch, 1994)
  • Strombus quadratus Perry, 1811
  • Strombus raninus Gmelin, 1791 (basionym)
  • Strombus raninus nanus Bales, 1942
  • Strombus sulcatus Fischer von Waldheim, 1807
  • Strombus wilsonorum Petuch, 1994 †
  • Tricornis raninus (Gmelin, 1791)

Lobatus raninus, common name the hawk-wing conch, is a species of medium to large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs.[1]

Shell description

A drawing depicting the shell of Lobatus raninus from Index Testarum Conchyliorum (1742).

The maximum recorded shell length is 121 mm[2] or up to 130 mm.[3]

Like other species in the same genus, Lobatus raninus has a robust, somewhat heavy and solid shell, with a distinct stromboid notch. The body whorl is dorsally ornamented by characteristic coarse spiral ridges.[3] The posterior expansion of the flaring outer lip is always lower than the spire.[3]

The color is brownish, with several disperse white spots. Both inner and outer lips are cream or white.[3]

Phylogeny

Strombidae

Terebellum terebellum




Canarium urceus




Conomurex luhuanus




Tricornis raninus




Lambis lambis




Strombus




Eustrombus



Aliger









Phylogeny and relationships of Strombidae according to Simone (2005)[4]

The phylogenetic relationships among the Strombidae have been mainly accessed in two different occasions, using two distinct methods. In 2005, Simone proposed a cladogram (a tree of descent) based on an extensive morpho-anatomical analysis of representatives of Aporrhaidae, Strombidae, Xenophoridae and Struthiolariidae, including L. raninus (there referred to as Tricornis raninus).[4]

With the exception of Lambis and Terebellum, the remaining taxa were previously allocated within the genus Strombus. However, according to Simone, only Strombus gracilior, Strombus alatus andStrombus pugilis, the type species, remained within Strombus, as they constituted a distinct group based on at least five synapomorphies (traits that are shared by two or more taxa and theirmost recent common ancestor).[4] The remaining taxa were previously considered as subgenera, and were elevated to genus level by Simone in the end of his analysis. The genus Tricornis (now considered a synonym of Lobatus),[1] in this case, only included T. raninus (now considered a synonym of Lobatus raninus).[1][4]

A different approach, this time based on sequences of nuclear histone H3 and mitochondrial cytochrome-c oxidase I (COI) genes was proposed by Latiolais et al. (2006). The phylogenic relations of (32 analyzed) species that used to belong or still belong in the genus Strombus and Lambis are shown bellow:[5]

 


 Eastern Pacific and Atlantic 






Strombus gallus



Strombus gigas




Strombus costatus





Strombus raninus



Strombus peruvianus





Strombus galeus




Strombus latus







Strombus pugilis



Strombus alatus




Strombus gracilior




Strobus granulatus







Strombus bulla



Strombus aurisdianae




Strombus vomer






Strombus gibberulus



Strombus luhuanus





 Lambis 


Lambis chiragra



Lambis truncata




Lambis lambis





Strombus taurus



Strombus sinuatus












Strombus maculatus



Strombus mutabilis





Strombus microurceus



Strombus labiatus







Strombus fragilis



Strombus urceus




Strombus dentatus







Strombus canarium



Strombus vittatus




Strombus epidromis






Strombus fusiformis



Strombus haemostoma





Strombus wilsoni



Phylogeny and relationships of Strombidae according to Latiolais (2006)[5]

Distribution

This species is distributed in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Lesser Antilles.

Ecology

Habitat

S. raninus lives near seagrass beds, usually in shallow water.[3] The minimum recorded depth is 0.3 m; the maximum recorded depth is 55 m.[2]

Feeding

Like other species of the genus Strombus, S. raninus is known to be a herbivore.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Bouchet, P. (2010). Lobatus raninus (Gmelin, 1791). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=531851 on 2011-03-21
  2. 2.0 2.1 Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". PLoS ONE 5(1): e8776. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0008776.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Cervigón, F. et al. (1993): FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Field guide to the commercial marine and brackish-water resources of the northern coast of South America. Rome, FAO. 513 p.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Simone, L. R. L. (2005). "Comparative morphological study of representatives of the three families of Stromboidea and the Xenophoroidea (Mollusca, Caenogastropoda), with an assessment of their phylogeny" (PDF). Arquivos de Zoologia (São Paulo, Brazil: Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo) 37 (2): 141–267. ISSN 0066-7870.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Latiolais J. M., Taylor M. S., Roy K. & Hellberg M. E. (2006). "A molecular phylogenetic analysis of strombid gastropod morphological diversity". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 41: 436-444. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.027.PDF.
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