Phalium glaucum

Phalium glaucum, common name the grey bonnet or glaucus bonnet, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Cassidae, the helmet snails and bonnet snails.[1]

Phalium glaucum
Five views of a shell of Phalium glaucum (Linné, 1758)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Littorinimorpha
Superfamily:
Tonnoidea
Family:
Cassidae
Genus:
Phalium
Species:
P. glaucum
Binomial name
Phalium glaucum
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms[1]

Cassis glauca (Linnaeus, 1758)

Distribution

This species is widespread in the Indo-Pacific, from Eastern Africa (Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania) to Southern Japan and Melanesia.[2]

Shells of Phalium glaucum

Habitat

This species lives on sandy bottoms with seagrass meadows, in intertidal and shallow subtidal areas to a depth of about 10 m.[3]

Description

Shell of Phalium glaucum can reach a length of 60–147 millimetres (2.4–5.8 in).[2]

These shells are helmet shaped with a large body whorl and tiny spires. The surface of shell is smooth and uniformly greyish or pale brown. The molluscs have a white body and a large yellowish or whitish foot which is edged in reddish brown. The operculum is bright yellow and fan-shaped. Usually this sea snail buries itself in the sandy areas with the long siphon sticking out.[3]

Bibliography
  • Arianna Fulvo and Roberto Nistri (2005). 350 coquillages du monde entier. Delachaux et Niestlé (Paris) : 256 p. (ISBN 2-603-01374-2)
  • Tan S.K., Ng H.E. & Nguang L.H.S. (2013) A new species of Phalium Link, 1807 (Gastropoda: Tonnoidea: Cassidae) from the Sunda Shelf. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 61(2): 507-514

References
  1. Phalium glaucum (Linnaeus, 1758). WoRMS (2009). Phalium glaucum (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=217006 on 14 August 2010 .
  2. "Phalium glaucum". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  3. Wild Singapore
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