''Turbinella laevigata'',

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 Brazilian chank, 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 very 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 ...

with a

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

and an operculum, 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

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Turbinellinae Turbinellinae are a subfamily of large deepwater sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turbinellidae.Bouchet, P. (2011). Turbinellinae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php ...

of 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 ...

Turbinellidae Turbinellidae are a family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Neogastropoda. Members of this family are predators. Distribution Species in this family are found worldwide, mostly in tropical shallow waters but some in deep wat ...

.Rosenberg, G. (2010). Turbinella laevigata Anton, 1838. 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=533539 on 2011-04-03

Subspecies

There are two subspecies of this species: * ''Turbinella laevigata laevigata'' Anton, 1838 * ''Turbinella laevigata rianae'' Delsaerdt, 1986 (synonym : ''Turbinella rianae'' Delsaerdt, 1987)

Description

The shell of this species is thick and heavy, and can grow as large as 200 mm in length.

Distribution

This species is found in

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 ...

Life cycle

The spawn of ''Turbinella laevigata'' has 240 eggs in every capsule; each capsule contains a high number of nurse eggs.Matthews-Cascon H., Rocha-Barreira C. de A., Meirelles C., Bigatti G. & Penchaszadeh P. (March–April) 2009
''Description of the Ootheca of Turbinella laevigata (Mollusca, Gastropoda)''
Brazilian Archives of Biology and Technology, 52(2): 359-364.

Human use

''Turbinella laevigata'' is used as a zootherapeutical product. It is used as a treatment for

sexual impotence Erectile dysfunction (ED), also called impotence, is the type of sexual dysfunction in which the Human penis, penis fails to become or stay Erection, erect during Human sexual activity, sexual activity. It is the most common sexual problem in ...

in traditional Brazilian medicine in the

northeast of Brazil The Northeast Region of Brazil ( pt, Região Nordeste do Brasil; ) is one of the five official and political regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises n ...

.Alves R. R. N. 2009. ''Fauna used in popular medicine in Northeast Brazil''.

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine BioMed Central (BMC) is a United Kingdom-based, for-profit scientific open access publisher that produces over 250 scientific journals. All its journals are published online only. BioMed Central describes itself as the first and largest open a ...

2009, 5:1.

References

External links

Anton, H. E. (1838). Verzeichniss der Conchylien welche sich in der Sammlung von Herrmann Eduard Anton befinden. Herausgegeben von dem Besitzer. Halle: Anton. xvi + 110 pp.

Kiener L.C. 1840-1841. Spécies général et iconographie des coquilles vivantes. Vol. 6. Famille des Canalifères. Deuxième partie. Genres Pyrule (Pyrula), Lamarck, pp. 1-34, pl. 1-15
*
Malacolog info
{{Commons category Turbinellidae Gastropods described in 1838