''Melongena'' is a genus 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 ...

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

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 ...

mollusk 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 e ...

s in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Melongenidae The Melongenidae, the crown conchs and their relatives, are a taxonomic family of large to very large marine gastropods in the superfamily Buccinoidea. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Melongenidae Gill, 1871 (1854). Accessed through: Worl ...

, the crown conches and their allies.WoRMS (2010). Melongena Schumacher, 1817. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca database. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=205587 on 2011-04-02

Species

Species within the genus ''Melongena'' include: * † '' Melongena basilica'' (Bellardi, 1873) * '' Melongena bispinosa'' (Philippi, 1844) * † '' Melongena californica'' Anderson & Martin, 1914 F. M. Anderson and B. Martin. 1914. Neocene record in the Temblor Basin, California, and Neocene deposits of the San Juan District, San Luis Obispo County. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Fourth Series 4(3):15-112 * ''

Melongena corona ''Melongena corona'', common name the Florida crown conch, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Melongenidae, the crown conches and their allies.MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Melongena corona (Gmelin, 1791 ...

'' (Gmelin, 1791) - crown conch - synonym: ''Melongena subcoronata'' * † ''

Melongena lainei ''Melongena'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Melongenidae, the crown conches and their allies.WoRMS (2010). Melongena Schumacher, 1817. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca ...

'' (Basterot, 1825) * '' Melongena melongena'' (Linnaeus, 1758) - type species * † ''

Melongena murifactor ''Melongena'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Melongenidae, the crown conches and their allies.WoRMS (2010). Melongena Schumacher, 1817. In: Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S.; Rosenberg, G. (2010) World Marine Mollusca ...

'' Vermeij & Raven, 2009 * ''

Melongena patula ''Melongena patula'', common name Pacific crown conch, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Melongenidae. Description ''Melongena patula'' has a shell that reaches a length of 75 – 250 mm. The surfa ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * † '' Melongena pontonxensis'' Lozouet, 2021 * † '' Melongena woodwardi'' (Roxo, 1924) - from

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

of the

Pebas Formation The Pebas Formation is a lithostratigraphic unit of Miocene age, found in western Amazonia. The formation extends over , including parts of Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.Wesselingh et al., 2006 It is interpreted as representing the deposits ...

Vermeij J. & Wesselingh F. P. (2002). "Neogastropod molluscs from the Miocene of western Amazonia, with comments on marine to freshwater transitions in molluscs". ''

Journal of Paleontology The ''Journal of Paleontology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the field of paleontology. It is published by the Paleontological Society. Indexing The ''Journal of Paleontology'' is indexed in: *BIOSIS Previews *Science Citatio ...

'' 76(2): 265-270. . ;Synonyms: * ''Melongena belknapi'' Petit de la Saussaye, 1852: synonym of ''

'' (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Melongena bicolor'' (Say, 1826): synonym of ''

'' (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Melongena fasciata'' Schumacher, 1817: synonym of '' Melongena melongena'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''Melongena paradisiaca'' (Röding, 1798): synonym of ''Volema paradisiaca'' Röding, 1798 : synonym of ''

Volema pyrum ''Volema pyrum'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Melongenidae The Melongenidae, the crown conchs and their relatives, are a taxonomic family of large to very large marine gastropods in the superfamily Bu ...

'' (Gmelin, 1791) (previous combination) * ''Melongena perspinosa'' Pilsbry & Vanatta, 1934 accepted as Melongena corona (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Melongena pirum'' Dautzenberg, 1929: synonym of ''

'' (Gmelin, 1791) * ''Melongena sprucecreekensis'' Tucker, 1994: synonym of ''

'' (Gmelin, 1791) * † ''Melongena vigneauxi'' Magne & Vergneau-Saubade, 1970: synonym of † '' Melongena basilica'' (Bellardi, 1873) The shells of ''Melongena'' species are extremely variable in shape and sculpture, and historically this has meant that a large number of different forms have been named, creating numerous

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

s. There is still some disagreement about how many modern species of ''Melongena'' actually exist. However, phylogenetic analysis indicate that there are only three species in the Western Atlantic, with all snails in coastal Florida being referred to ''Melongena corona''.Hayes, K. A., 2003. ''Phylogeography and Evolution of the Florida Crown Conch (Melongena corona)'' MS Thesis University of South Florida, Department of Biology.

Distribution

The genus ''Melongena'' occurs only in the tropical

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. It appears that three nominally valid species occur in the tropics of the western

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

: one in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, one in the Yucatan, and one in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. A fourth species is found on the tropical eastern

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

coast.

Habitat

Species within this genus live in the tropical

intertidal zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species o ...

, in muddy areas such as under

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

trees.

Life habits

''Melongena'' snails are carnivorous, primarily preying on small bivalves (clams, mussels and oysters). They will also feed on other species of snails and have been known to be cannibalistic.

References

External links