''Charonia'' 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 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 a ...

, commonly known as Triton's trumpet or Triton snail. They are 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 ...

mollusks in the monotypic family Charoniidae.

Etymology

The common name "Triton's trumpet" is derived from the

Greek god The following is a list of gods, goddesses, and many other divine and semi-divine figures from ancient Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion. Immortals The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the ...

Triton Triton commonly refers to: * Triton (mythology), a Greek god * Triton (moon), a satellite of Neptune Triton may also refer to: Biology * Triton cockatoo, a parrot * Triton (gastropod), a group of sea snails * ''Triton'', a synonym of ''Triturus'' ...

, who was the son of

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as ...

, god of the sea. The god Triton is often portrayed blowing a large seashell horn similar to this species.

Fossil records

This genus is known in the

fossil record A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s as far back as the Cretaceous period. Fossils are found in the marine strata throughout the world. Fossilworks
/ref>

Description

Species within the genus ''Charonia'' have large fusiform shells, usually whiteish with brown or yellow markings. The shell of the giant triton '' Charonia tritonis'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologi ...

), which lives in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

, can grow to over half a metre (20 inches) in length. One slightly smaller (shell size but still very large species, ''

Charonia variegata ''Charonia variegata'', the Atlantic triton or Atlantic triton's trumpet, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Charoniidae, the triton snails, triton shells, or tritons. Distribution This species h ...

'' (

Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...

, 1816), lives in 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 ...

, from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 28th largest and List of states and territories of the United ...

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 ...

Distribution

''Charonia'' species inhabit

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

and

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

waters worldwide.

Life habits

Unlike

pulmonate Pulmonata or pulmonates, is an informal group (previously an Order (biology), order, and before that a Class (biology), subclass) of snails and slugs characterized by the ability to breathe air, by virtue of having a Respiratory system of gastro ...

and

opisthobranch Opisthobranchs () is now an informal name for a large and diverse group of specialized complex gastropods which used to be united in the subclass Opisthobranchia. That taxon is no longer considered to represent a monophyletic grouping. Euopi ...

s, tritons are not

hermaphrodite In reproductive biology, a hermaphrodite () is an organism that has both kinds of reproductive organs and can produce both gametes associated with male and female sexes. Many taxonomic groups of animals (mostly invertebrates) do not have ...

s; they have separate sexes and undergo

sexual reproduction Sexual reproduction is a type of reproduction that involves a complex life cycle in which a gamete ( haploid reproductive cells, such as a sperm or egg cell) with a single set of chromosomes combines with another gamete to produce a zygote th ...

with internal fertilization. The female deposits white capsules in clusters, each of which contains many developing

larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. ...

e. The larvae emerge free-swimming and enter the

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a cruc ...

, where they drift in open water for up to three months.

Feeding behavior

Adult tritons are active

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill t ...

s and feed on other

mollusc 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 est ...

s and

starfish Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish a ...

.Christopher Ma
Snails that eat Starfish : Predation in the tropical Indo-Pacific
/ref> The giant triton has gained fame for its ability to capture and eat

crown-of-thorns starfish The crown-of-thorns starfish (frequently abbreviated to COTS), ''Acanthaster planci'', is a large starfish that preys upon hard, or stony, coral polyps (Scleractinia). The crown-of-thorns starfish receives its name from venomous thorn-like spines ...

, a large species (up to 1 m in diameter) covered in venomous spikes an inch long. The crown-of-thorns starfish has few other natural predators, and are capable of destroying large sections of

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...

. Tritons can be observed to turn and give chase when the scent of prey is detected. Some starfish (including the crown-of-thorns starfish) appear to be able to detect the approach of the mollusc by means which are not clearly understood, and they will attempt flight before any physical contact has taken place. Tritons, however, are faster than starfish, and only large starfish have a reasonable hope of escape, and then only by abandoning whichever limb the snail seizes first. The triton grips its prey with its

muscular Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other types of muscle ...

foot and uses its toothy

radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...

(a serrated, scraping organ found in gastropods) to saw through the starfish's armoured skin. Once it has penetrated, a paralyzing saliva subdues the prey and the snail feeds at leisure, often beginning with the softest parts such as the

gonads A gonad, sex gland, or reproductive gland is a mixed gland that produces the gametes and sex hormones of an organism. Female reproductive cells are egg cells, and male reproductive cells are sperm. The male gonad, the testicle, produces sper ...

and gut. Tritons ingest smaller prey animals whole without troubling to paralyse them, and will spit out any poisonous spines, shells, or other unwanted parts later.

Species and subspecies

Species within the genus ''Charonia'' include: * '' Charonia guichemerrei'' Lozouet, 1998 † * ''

Charonia lampas ''Charonia lampas'' is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Charoniidae. Distribution This marine species has a wide distribution: the North Sea, the North Atlantic Ocean (Azores, Madeira, the Canaries ...

'' (

) * '' Charonia marylenae'' Petuch & Berschauer, 2020 * '' Charonia seguenzae'' (Aradas & Benoit, 1872) * '' Charonia tritonis'' (

) * ''

'' (

, 1816) - Caribbean Triton's trumpet * '' Charonia veterior'' Lozouet, 1999 † ;Synonymized species: * ''Charonia capax'' Finlay, 1926: synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia digitalis'' (Reeve, 1844): synonym of '' Maculotriton serriale'' (Deshayes, 1834) * ''Charonia eucla'' Hedley, 1914 : synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia eucla instructa'' Iredale, 1929: synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia grandimaculatus'' Reeve: synonym of '' Lotoria grandimaculata'' (Reeve, 1844) * '' Charonia maculosum'' Gmelin: synonym of '' Colubraria maculosa'' (Gmelin, 1791) (new combination) * ''Charonia mirabilis'' Parenzan, 1970: synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia nodifera''(Lamarck, 1822): synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia poecilostoma'' Smith, 1915: synonym of '' Ranella gemmifera'' (Euthyme, 1889) * ''Charonia powelli'' Cotton, 1957 : synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia rubicunda'' (Perry, 1811): synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia sauliae'' (Reeve, 1844): synonym of ''Charonia lampas'' (

) * ''Charonia seguenzae''(Aradas & Benoit, 1872) synonym of ''Charonia variegata'' (Lamarck, 1816) * ''Charonia variegatus'' Reeve: synonym of ''Charonia variegata'' (Lamarck, 1816) Charonia lampas sauliae 145a.jpg, ''

'' Charonia tritonis a1.jpg, '' Charonia tritonis'' Charonia variegata c2.jpg, ''

References

* Beu A.G. 1998. ''Indo-West Pacific Ranellidae, Bursidae and Personidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda). A monograph of the New Caledonian fauna and revisions of related taxa''. Mémoires du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle 178: 1-255

External links

An article on the crown-of-thorns starfish
which contains excellent pictures of one being eaten by a triton. {{Taxonbar, from1=Q591104, from2=Q58377059 Charoniidae Gastropod genera Cenomanian genus first appearances Extant Late Cretaceous first appearances Taxa named by Johannes von Nepomuk Franz Xaver Gistel