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| Northern moon snail | ||||||||||||||
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| Polinices heros (Say, 1822) |
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Lunatia heros1 |
The northern moon snail, Lunatia heros, is a species of large sea snail, a predatory marine gastropod mollusk.
It is found rather uncommonly intertidally, but is much more commonly subtidally. This species, like all moon snails, feeds voraciously on clams and other snails.
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Distribution
This is a western Atlantic species, which occurs from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Delaware.
Habitat
Northern moon snails are found on mud and sand substrates at depths of up to 364 m (1,200 ft).
Shell description
The shell of this species is globular and can, under the right conditions, grow as large as 125 mm (7 inches) in maximum dimension.
The operculum is large, ear-shaped in outline, and is corneus and somewhat transparent. On beaches where the shell of this species washed up commonly, the operculum will usually also be found washed up in the drift line.
Moon snail predation
Evidence of northern moon snail predation is usually much easier to find than the snails themselves:
The powerful foot enables this gastropod to plow under the sand in search of other mollusks. Upon finding one, it "drills" a hole into the shell with its radula, releases digestive enzymes, and sucks out the somewhat predigested contents.2
When empty shells of clams and snails, including other moon snails, are seen to have a neat "countersunk" hole drilled in them, this is evidence of predation by a moon snail.
External links
- Eco Field Guide: Northern moon snail
- The Long Island Shell Club, 1988, Seashells of Long Island, Long Island Shell Club, New York.
Notes
- ^ "ITIS classification". ITIS.gov.
- ^ Andrew J. Martinez (2003). "Marine Life of the North Atlantic: Canada to New England". Aqua Quest Publications. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 30 December 2008, at 23:45.
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