''Tenguella'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of small, predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the

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

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 Neoga ...

, the murex snails or rock snails.

Description

''Tenguella'' species have thick shells bearing regular dark nodules. In ''T. granulata'' and ''T. marginalba'', the furrows between the nodules are a contrasting lighter colour. Fully-grown adult shells range from roughly for ''T. chinoi'' to for ''T. granulata''. The nodulated appearance is reminiscent of a compound fruit, this is reflected in the common names such as " mulberry shell" and "granulated drupe". They live on rocky shores in the intertidal zone or in shallow water, where they prey on other molluscs by drilling through their shells.

Distribution

Species are found through the Indian Ocean and West Pacific (IWP), from eastern Africa to Australia, New Zealand, Pacific islands, and Japan. Most are tropical to sub-tropical, though ''T. marginalba'' is also found on temperate shores.

Taxonomy

''Tenguella'' was defined by Arakawa in 1965. The type species is ''Purpura granulata'' Duclos 1832. In 1985, Fujioka synonymised it with ''

Morula A morula (Latin, ''morus'': mulberry) is an early-stage embryo consisting of a solid ball of cells called blastomeres, contained in mammals, and other animals within the zona pellucida shell. The blastomeres are the daughter cells of the zygot ...

''. In 2013, a gene-sequence analysis of 52 egalataxine species showed a clade containing ''M. granulata'', that was related to ''

Muricodrupa ''Muricodrupa'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the subfamily Ergalataxinae of the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. Species * '' Muricodrupa anaxares'' (Kiener, 1836) (previously ''Morula anaxares'') * ...

'' but more distant from the main ''Morula'' clade. The authors proposed resurrecting Arakawa's name ''Tenguella'' for this group.

Species

As at 2019, the following species are included in ''Tenguella'': * '' Tenguella ceylonica'' (Dall, 1923) * '' Tenguella chinoi'' Houart, Zuccon & Puillandre, 2019. Named in honour of the

malacologist Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, ...

Mitsuo Chino. * '' Tenguella ericius'' Houart, Zuccon & Puillandre, 2019. Ericius meaning

hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are seventeen species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introductio ...

. * ''

Tenguella granulata ''Tenguella granulata'', common name the mulberry shell or the granulated drupe, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. Description The shell size varies between 18&nbs ...

'' (Duclos, 1832) – mulberry shell or granulated drupe. * '' Tenguella hoffmani'' Houart, 2017 * ''

Tenguella marginalba ''Tenguella marginalba'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails. It is commonly known as the mulberry whelk and is found in shallow waters in the Indo-Pacific and around t ...

'' (Blainville, 1832) – the mulberry whelk. * '' Tenguella musiva'' (Kiener, 1835) – the mosaic purpura or musical drupe.

References

External links

Illustrations
of ''"Purpura tuberculata"'' and ''"Purpura marginalba"'' in Kiener (1835) ''Coquilles Vivantes''. {{Ergalataxinae-stub