''Lobatus raninus'',

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

the hawk-wing conch, 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 ...

of medium to large

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 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 ...

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 ...

Strombidae Strombidae, commonly known as the true conchs, is a taxonomic family of medium-sized to very large sea snails in the superfamily Stromboidea, and the Epifamily Neostromboidae. The term true conchs, being a common name, does not have an exact mea ...

, the true

conch Conch () is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point at both ends). In North Am ...

s.Bouchet, P. (2010). Lobatus raninus (Gmelin, 1791). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=531851 on 2011-03-21

Shell description

The maximum recorded

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

length is 121 mmWelch, J.J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". '' PLoS ONE'' 5(1): e8776. . or up to 130 mm.Cervigón, F. ''et al.'' (1993). ''"FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Field guide to the commercial marine and brackish-water resources of the northern coast of South America"''. Rome, FAO. 513 p. Like other species in the same genus, ''Lobatus raninus'' has a robust, somewhat heavy and solid shell, with a distinct

stromboid notch The stromboid notch is an anatomical feature which is found in the shell of one taxonomic family of medium-sized to large sea snails, the conches. Marine gastropods in the family Strombidae have a notch in the edge of the shell aperture not far ...

. The

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk. In gastropods In gastropods, the b ...

is dorsally ornamented by characteristic coarse spiral ridges. The posterior expansion of the flaring outer lip is always lower than the spire. The color is brownish, with several disperse white spots. Both inner and outer lips are cream or white.

Phylogeny

The phylogenetic relationships among the Strombidae have been mainly accessed on two occasions, using two methods. In 2005, Simone proposed a

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...

(a tree of descent) based on an extensive

morpho The morpho butterflies comprise many species of Neotropical butterfly under the genus ''Morpho''. This genus includes more than 29 accepted species and 147 accepted subspecies, found mostly in South America, Mexico, and Central America. ''Morph ...

anatomical Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

analysis of representatives of

Aporrhaidae Aporrhaidae is a family of sea snails commonly called the "pelican's foot snails." The taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.); Frýda J., Hausdorf B., Ponder W., Valdes A. & Warén A. 2005. ''Classif ...

, Strombidae,

Xenophoridae Xenophoridae, commonly called carrier shells, is a family of medium-sized to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Littorinimorpha. According to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi (2005) the family Xenophor ...

and

Struthiolariidae Struthiolariidae is a family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Stromboidea The Stromboidea, originally named the Strombacea by Rafinesque in 1815, is a superfamily of medium-sized to very large s ...

, including ''L. raninus'' (there referred to as ''Tricornis raninus''). With the exception of ''

Lambis ''Lambis'' is a genus of large sea snails sometimes known as spider conchs, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Strombidae, the true conch family.Bouchet, P.; Rosenberg, G. (2011)Lambis Röding, 1798 Accessed through: World Register of Ma ...

'' and '' Terebellum'', the remaining taxa were previously allocated within the genus ''

Strombus ''Strombus'' is a genus of medium to large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Strombidae, which comprises the true conchs and their immediate relatives. The genus ''Strombus'' was named by Swedish Naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 175 ...

''. However, according to Simone, only ''

Strombus gracilior ''Strombus gracilior'', common names the Eastern Pacific fighting conch, or the Panama fighting conch, is a species of medium to large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs.Bouchet, P. (2011). Strombus ...

'', ''

Strombus alatus ''Strombus alatus'', the Florida fighting conch, is a species of medium-sized, warm-water sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs. Distribution This conch occurs in the Western Atlantic Ocean from North ...

'' and ''

Strombus pugilis ''Strombus pugilis'', common names the fighting conch and the West Indian fighting conch, is a species of medium to large sea snail, a marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusk in the family (biology), family Strombidae, the true conchs. ''S. pu ...

'', the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

, remained within ''Strombus'', as they constituted a distinct group based on at least five

synapomorphies In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have ...

(traits that are shared by two or more

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

and their

most recent common ancestor In biology and genetic genealogy, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as the last common ancestor (LCA) or concestor, of a set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all the organisms of the set are descended. The ...

). The remaining taxa were previously considered as

subgenera In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

, and were elevated to genus level by Simone in the end of his analysis. The genus '' Tricornis'' (now considered a synonym of '' Lobatus''), in this case, only included ''T. raninus'' (now considered a synonym of ''Lobatus raninus''). A different approach, this time based on sequences of nuclear

histone H3 Histone H3 is one of the five main histones involved in the structure of chromatin in eukaryotic cells. Featuring a main globular domain and a long N-terminal tail, H3 is involved with the structure of the nucleosomes of the 'beads on a stri ...

and mitochondrial cytochrome-c oxidase I (COI) genes was proposed by Latiolais ''et al''. (2006). The phylogenic relations of (32 analyzed) species that used to belong or still belong in the genus ''Strombus'' and ''

'' are shown below:Latiolais J. M., Taylor M. S., Roy K. & Hellberg M. E. (2006). "A molecular phylogenetic analysis of strombid gastropod morphological diversity". ''

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of evolutionary biology and phylogenetics. The journal is edited by E.A. Zimmer. Indexing The journal is indexed in: *EMBiology *Journal Citation Reports *Scopus ...

'' 41: 436-444.
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Distribution

This species is distributed in the

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 ...

, the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

and the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc betwe ...

Ecology

;Habitat ''S. raninus'' lives near seagrass beds, usually in shallow water. The minimum recorded depth is 0.3 m; the maximum recorded depth is 55 m. ;Feeding Like other species of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

'', ''S. raninus'' is known to be a

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

References

* Rosenberg, G., F. Moretzsohn, and E. F. García. 2009.'' Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico'', Pp. 579–699 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas {{DEFAULTSORT:Lobatusraninus Strombidae Gastropods described in 1791 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin