''Phyllonotus margaritensis'', common name the Margarita Murex, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Muricidae Muricidae is a large and varied taxonomic family of small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks, commonly known as murex snails or rock snails. With about 1,600 living species, the Muricidae represent almost 10% of the Neogas ...

, the murex snails or rock snails.

Description

Shell presents large and strong reaching sizes between 7–11 cm, with 4 or 5 lap varices, varices these are simple, nodular and obtuse, siphonal canal wide and curved. The mouth has colors that can vary from yellow, orange and red and the inner lip is nodulated at the base.Warmke, Germaine L. & Abbott, R Tucker. 1961. ''Caribbean Seashells''. Livingston Publishing Company. Narberth. Pennsylvania.Morris, A. P. 1973. ''A Field Guide to Shells of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and the West Indies''. Hougmon Mifflin Co Boston.Macsotay O. & Campos. R. 2001. ''Moluscos representativos de la plataforma de Margarita''. Editora Rivolta. Valencia. 280p.

Sexual dimorphism

Studies in relation to the size of males and females suggests that females tend to have Phyllonotus margaritensis size larger than males and greater variation in shape.

Distribution

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

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 ...

and

Caribbean sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

.Leal, J.H. Gastropods. The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum
/ref> In the Southern Caribbean is noted in:

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Habitat

This sea snail is often found in abundance in seagrass beds,Arias Isaza, Francisco A. y col. 2011. ''Distribución y abundancia de las poblaciones de gasterópodos de importancia comercial en La Guajira, Caribe Colombiano''. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras José Benito Vives de Andréis. (INVEMAR). Santa Marta. 33p. but also can be observed on rocky areas and reef areas at lower densities. It has been collected in a bathymetric range from 0 to 200 m. This muricid is an active predator of bivalves such as sand-dwelling clams.Urosa, L.J. 1972. algunos depredadores del mejillón comestible ''

Perna perna ''Perna perna'', the brown mussel, is an economically important mussel, a bivalve mollusc belonging to the family Mytilidae. It is harvested as a food source but is also known to harbor toxins and cause damage to marine structures. It is nati ...

'' (L.). ''Boletín del Instituto OCeanográfico. Universidad de Oriente'', 11(1):3–18.

Gallery

File:Phyllonotus margaritensis (Abbott, 1958) 000.JPG File:Phyllonotus margaritensis (Abbott, 1958) 001.JPG File:Phyllonotus margaritensis (Abbott, 1958) 003.JPG

References

Reading

* Merle D., Garrigues B. & Pointier J.-P. (2011) ''Fossil and Recent Muricidae of the world. Part Muricinae''. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 648 pp. page(s): 116

External links

Zipcodezoo.com: ''Phyllonotus margaritensis''
*
Biodiversity Heritage Library: Bibliography for ''Phyllonotus margaritensis''

Smithsonian Nationañ Museum of Natural History

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phyllonotus Margaritensis Muricidae Gastropods described in 1958 Taxa named by Robert Tucker Abbott