''Babylonia japonica'', common name the Japanese Babylon or Japanese ivory shell, is a species of

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

, a marine

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusc Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...

in the family

Babyloniidae Babyloniidae is a taxonomic family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks unassigned within the superfamily Neogastropoda. MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Babyloniidae Kuroda, Habe & Oyama, 1971. Accessed through: World R ...

Distribution

This marine species occurs off Korea,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and Taiwan.

Description

The length of the shell varies between 40 mm and 85 mm. The ground color of the shell is white. The outer whorl has two rows of brown blotches among rows of fine spots. The pattern is similar to that of ''

Babylonia zeylanica ''Babylonia zeylanica'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk, in the family Babyloniidae Babyloniidae is a taxonomic family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks unassigned within the superfamily Neogastropod ...

'' and '' B. spirata'', but ''B. japonica'' has smaller and more numerous spots. In life, this shell is covered by a brown or tan

periostracum The periostracum ( ) is a thin, organic coating (or "skin") that is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including molluscs and brachiopods. Among molluscs, it is primarily seen in snails and clams, i.e. in gastropods and ...

Human use

Although this species is generally considered edible for humans, it is known to bioaccumulate toxins under certain conditions, namely the

surugatoxin Surugatoxin (SGTX) is a type of venom found in the mid-gut digestive gland of the Japanese ivory mollusk ''Babylonia'' ''japonica'', a carnivorous gastropod. It functions as a ganglionic blocker of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). T ...

family, which causes

blockage ''Blockage'' (Persian: سد معبر, romanized: Sade Ma'bar) is a 2017 Iranian drama film directed by Mohsen Gharaie and written by Saeed Roustayi. The film screened for the first time at the 35th Fajr Film Festival and received 4 nominations. I ...

autonomic ganglia An autonomic ganglion is a cluster of nerve cell bodies (a ganglion) in the autonomic nervous system The autonomic nervous system (ANS), formerly referred to as the vegetative nervous system, is a division of the peripheral nervous system that s ...

, and tetrodotoxin (pufferfish toxin). In September 1965 a

food poisoning Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease) ...

outbreak occurred after ingestion of this species from

Suruga Bay Suruga Bay (駿河湾, ''Suruga-wan'') is a bay on the Pacific coast of Honshū in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is situated north of a straight line from Omaezaki Point to Irōzaki Point at the tip of the Izu Peninsula and surrounded by Honshū ...

. The symptoms largely corresponded to ganglionic blockage, with

parasympathetic The parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) is one of the three divisions of the autonomic nervous system, the others being the sympathetic nervous system and the enteric nervous system. The enteric nervous system is sometimes considered part of t ...

dysfunction being more common than sympathetic dysfunction.

References

* Fraussen K. & Stratmann D. (2013) ''The family Babyloniidae''. In: G.T. Poppe & K. Groh (eds), A conchological iconography. Harxheim: Conchbooks. 96 pp., pls 1-48.

External links

Babyloniidae Gastropods described in 1842 Marine gastropods {{Babyloniidae-stub