Nucella emarginata

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.[1]

Nucella emarginata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily:
Muricoidea
Family:
Muricidae
Subfamily:
Ocenebrinae
Genus:
Nucella
Species:
N. emarginata
Binomial name
Nucella emarginata
(Deshayes, 1839)
Synonyms[1]
  • Nucella ostrina Gould, A.A., 1852
  • Purpura emarginata Deshayes, 1839
  • Thais emarginata (Deshayes, 1839)

Description

N. emarginata is a rocky intertidal gastropod carnivore that feeds on a variety of sessile and sedentary species such as barnacles, mussels, and limpets.[2] The adult shell size of this species can reach 25 mm or 30 mm.

Feeding

N. emarginata attacks prey by drilling. It has a special organ called the accessory boring organ, or ABO, that contains acid which it uses to dissolve a small hole in the shell of its prey.[3][4][5] When drilling, it alternates acid secretions with scraping by its radula until it has fully penetrated the prey's shell, leaving a characteristic hole about 1 mm in diameter.[5] The speed of this process likely depends on temperature,[6] and the size of the hole depends on the size of the dogwhelk's accessory boring organ, which is generally larger in larger dogwhelks.[7] Finally, when the hole is complete, the dogwhelk inserts its proboscis into the hole to feed.

Distribution

This species lives in mid-intertidal zones and often lives among mussels such as Mytilus californianus.[8] Formerly known as N. ostrina, the two species were differentiated based on shell morphology, reproductive compatibility, and genetic sequencing in 1990.[8] N. emarginata is now known to be distributed between Fort Point, California and Pacific Mexico.[9]

References
  1. Nucella emarginata (Deshayes, 1839). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 10 January 2011.
  2. West, L., 1986. Interindividual variation in prey selection by the snail Nucella (= Thais) emarginata. Ecology 67, 798–809. https://doi.org/10.2307/1937702
  3. Gruber, G.L., Carriker, M.R., 1990. A note on the accessory boring organ and shell boring by the "Loco", Concholepas concholepas (Muricidae, Gastropoda). Bulletin of Marine Science 47, 739–744.
  4. Carriker, M.R., Gruber, G.L., 1999. Uniqueness of the Gastropod Accessory Boring Organ (ABO) Comparative Biology, an Update. Journal of Shellfish Research 18, 579–595.
  5. Carriker, M.R., 1981. Shell penetration and feeding by Naticacean and Muricacean predatory gastropods: a synthesis. Malacologia 20, 403–422
  6. Miller, L.P., 2013. The effect of water temperature on drilling and ingestion rates of the dogwhelk Nucella lapillus feeding on Mytilus edulis mussels in the laboratory. Marine Biology 160, 1489–1496. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-013-2202-z
  7. Kowalewski, M., 2004. Drill holes produced by the predatory gastropod Nucella lamellosa (Muricidae): Palaeobiological and ecological implications. Journal of Molluscan Studies 70, 359–370. https://doi.org/10.1093/mollus/70.4.359
  8. Palmer, A., Gayron, S., Woodruff, D., 1990. Reproductive, morphological, and genetic evidence for two cryptic species of Northeastern Pacific Nucella. The Veliger 33, 15.
  9. Marko PB (1998) Historical allopatry and the biogeography of speciation in the prosobranch snail genus Nucella. Evolution (NY) 52:757–774
  • "Nucella emarginata". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
  • A Snail's Oddyssey: Whelks and Relatives
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