Tectarius coronatus

Tectarius coronatus, common name beaded prickly winkle or coronate prickly-winkle,[2] is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Littorinidae, the winkles or periwinkles. It is the type species of the genus Tectarius and is native to the limestone coasts of islands in the western Pacific Ocean.

Tectarius coronatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Littorinimorpha
Superfamily:
Littorinoidea
Family:
Littorinidae
Genus:
Tectarius
Species:
T. coronatus
Binomial name
Tectarius coronatus

Taxonomy

T. coronatus is the type species of the genus Tectarius and was first described by the French zoologist Achille Valenciennes in 1833.[1] In 1972, Rosewater made a revision of the genus and placed it in the subgenus tectarius.[3]

Description

The species has a trochoidal shell that reaches a size of 20–40 millimetres (0.79–1.57 in). The spire is broad and surface of this shell is distinctively sculptured, being prickly or nodulose. The basic color is light orange or pale brown, with dark brown bands and a creamy-white interior.[2]

Distribution

T. coronatus is found in the tropical western Pacific Ocean, in Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines. It occurs on rock high in the intertidal zone, extending to considerably above the high tide mark.[4]

Ecology

It is found exclusively on karstic limestone rocks and cliffs, sometimes in the splashzone several meters above the high tide mark.[3] This is an extremely challenging environment for the mollusk where it is exposed to extreme heat, desiccation, high salinity, and sometimes low salinity (in the torrential tropical rain); in fact the genus name "Tectarius" comes from the Latin meaning "tolerant of difficult conditions" or "avoiding confrontations", while "coronatus" means "crowned". The mollusc thus avoids competition from other animals for food and is safe from many aquatic predators.[5]

Life cycle

The sexes are separate in this species, with the eggs and sperm being liberated into the sea. The fertilised eggs develop into trochophore larvae, which form part of the plankton, and later develop into veliger larvae. When sufficiently developed, these settle on the seabed and undergo metamorphosis into juvenile mollusks.[4]

Human use

The winkle is sometimes used as food, but the mollusk is more often gathered for its colorful shell.[4]

References
  1. Humboldt A. von & Bonpland A. (1833). Recueil d'observations de zoologie et d'anatomie comparée, faites dans l'Océan Atlantique, dans l'intérieur du Nouveau Continent et dans la Mer du Sud pendant les années 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802 et 1803. Tome 2, Partie 2. Observations de zoologie et d'anatomie comparée. p. 271.
  2. Tectarius (Tectarius) coronatus Gastropods
  3. Reid, D.G.; Geller, Johnathan B. (1997). "A new ovoviviparous species of Tectarius (Gastropoda, Littorinidae) from Niue, South Pacific, with a molecular phylogeny of the genus" (PDF). Journal of Molluscan Studies. 63 (2): 207–233. doi:10.1093/mollus/63.2.207.
  4. "Tectarius coronatus Valenciennes, 1832: coronate prickly-winkle". SeaLifeBasae. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  5. Hanson, Michelle (2007). Ocean Oracle: What Seashells Reveal About Our True Nature. Simon and Schuster. p. 49. ISBN 978-1-4165-6543-7.
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