''Harpa'',

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 con ...

the "harp snails", is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of large

predatory Predation is a biological interaction in which 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 ...

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

s, marine gastropod mollusks in the family

Harpidae The Harpidae, known as the harp snails, are the members of a taxonomic family of large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks. This family is temporarily classified in the superfamily Neogastropoda incertae sedis. MolluscaBase eds. (2 ...

.Gofas, S.; Bouchet, P. (2015). Harpa Röding, 1798. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=205853 on 2016-02-28 ''Harpa'' is the type genus of the family Harpidae.

Description

The shell has an ovate-oblong shape. It is more or less inflated, generally pretty thin, enamelled, and provided with parallel, longitudinal, inclined and acute ribs.The

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology (biology), morphology of the gastropod shell, 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 ...

is much larger than all the others together. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

is slightly elevated. The

aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

is large, oval, dilated, strongly emarginated inferiorly, and without

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water i ...

. The outer

lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

is bordered by the last rib. The

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...

is smooth, simple, nearly straight and pointed at the base. The animal has a flattened head, which supports a pair of long, thick, and conical tentacles, with a small protuberance at their base, internally, where the eyes are situated. the mouth is simple, surrounded by a muscular margin, and furnished with a small, slender and pointed trunk. The organ of excitement is elongated, cylindrical, situated on the right side. The locomotive organ is very large, very broad at the anterior part, which is ear-shaped, and distinguished by a deep emargination upon each side.The posterior extremity is caducous, and destitute of an operculum. The fleshy part of this mollusk is very strong, and very large. Its foot is enormous, thick, and extended considerably out of the shell. It cannot be wholly contained within the aperture, before which, by contracting itself, it forms a margin. The foot is as if divided into two portions. The anterior broader, arcuated, ear-shaped, with a marginal furrow, and joined to the posterior part by a kind of neck. This latter, more extended, is somewhat oval, pointed, and slightly inflated above, without any appearance of operculum. When the animal is violently disturbed, it breaks off the posterior extremity of its foot, in order to withdraw itself more completely within its shell. In consequence of this an operculum would be useless to it, for it would be liable to be carried away by the rupture of the foot. Therefore, it is not possessed. All the external parts of the animal are strongly colored with spots and plates of a brownish red, intermingled with other yellowish spots. The middle portion is frequently crossed by a brown band. The respiratory tube is long, rather large, continued to and terminating in a large pulmonary cavity, the use of which is to assist respiration. Upon one side of this cavity are two pectinated branchiae, one large, and the other small. On the opposite side are situated, in female specimens, the rectum and the uterus; and in the male a deferential canal and a penis. On this same side are fixed, at the upper part of the cavity, the mucous follicles, composed of seven or eight transverse plates. The tongue is small, slender, pointed, fleshy, without any trace of a ribbon of horn. It is contained in an incurved sheath, and rarely protruded from it. The stomach is very narrow, and does not differ in size from the rest of the intestinal canal. The rectum is pretty large, terminated by an anus slightly narrowed and pointed. The liver, which is voluminous, forms a great part of the convoluted portion, and extends almost throughout the spire. The heart and the auricle are very much developed, contained in a pericardium, and situated at the base of the branchiae. The cerebral ganglion is broad and flattened; it sends out numerous nervous filaments which ramify over the whole body. The penis of the male is considerable and situated upon the same side. Kiener (1840). General species and iconography of recent shells
: comprising the Massena Museum, the collection of

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 ...

, the collection of the Museum of Natural History, and the recent discoveries of travellers; Boston :W.D. Ticknor,1837 This genus are voracious

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

predators Predation is a biological interaction in which 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 ...

benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

crustaceans Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of Arthropod, arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquat ...

on sandy bottoms, capable of eating

crabs Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the thorax. Their exoskeleton is often thickened and ha ...

as large as themselves.

Distribution

This marine species is circumtropical, except the western Atlantic Ocean. It also occurs off Australia (

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

Species

Species in the genus ''Harpa'' include: * ''

Harpa amouretta ''Harpa amouretta'', common name the lesser harp, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family (biology), family Harpidae, the harp snails. Description As ''Harpa harpa'', up to 7 cm, with 11–14 axial ribs and high ...

'' Röding, 1798 * ''

Harpa articularis ''Harpa articularis'', common name the articulate harp shell, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Harpidae, the harp snails. Description The size of the shell varies between 50 mm and 110 mm. The rathe ...

'' Lamarck, 1822 * ''

Harpa cabriti ''Harpa cabriti'', previously known as ''Harpa ventricosa'' Lamarck, 1816,Rehder H. A. (1992). "''Harpa cabriti'' Fischer, 1860, a replacement name for ''Harpa ventricosa'' Lamarck, 1816". ''The Nautilus'' 106(3)123124. common name the ventral ha ...

'' P. Fischer, 1860 * ''

Harpa costata ''Harpa costata'', common name the ribbed harp, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Harpidae, the harp snails. Description The size of the shell varies between 60 mm and 110 mm. Distribution This spec ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * ''

Harpa crenata ''Harpa crenata'', common name the Panama harp, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Harpidae, the harp snails. Description The size of the shell varies between 50 mm and 100 mm. Distribution This mari ...

'' Swainson, 1822 * ''

Harpa davidis ''Harpa davidis'', common name the Madras harp or David harp, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family (biology), family Harpidae, the harp snails. Distribution This species is widespread over Indo-Pacific, from easte ...

'' Röding, 1798 * ''

Harpa doris ''Harpa doris'', common name the rose harp, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Harpidae, the harp snails. Description The size of the shell varies between 30 mm and 81 mm. The rather thin shell is ova ...

'' Röding, 1798 * '' Harpa goodwini'' Rehder, 1993 * '' Harpa gracilis'' Broderip & G. B. Sowerby I, 1829 * ''

Harpa harpa ''Harpa'', common name the "harp snails", is a genus of large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Harpidae.Gofas, S.; Bouchet, P. (2015). Harpa Röding, 1798. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register o ...

'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * '' Harpa kajiyamai'' Habe, 1970 * '' Harpa kolaceki'' T. Cossignani, 2011 * ''

Harpa lorenzi ''Harpa lorenzi'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk, in the family Harpidae The Harpidae, known as the harp snails, are the members of a taxonomic family of large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks. This fam ...

'' D. Monsecour & K. Monsecour, 2018 * ''

Harpa major ''Harpa major'', commonly known by the English vernacular names large harp, or alternatively as the major harp,The Encyclopedia of Shells 1998 Kenneth R. Wye is a notable species of large predatory sea snail. These fascinating marine gastropod mo ...

'' Röding, 1798 * '' Harpa queenslandica'' Berschauer & Petuch, 2016 ;Species brought into synonymy: * ''Harpa conoidalis'' Lamarck, 1822 * ''Harpa crassa'' Krauss, 1848 * ''Harpa kawamurai'' Habe, 1970 * ''Harpa laetifica'' Melvill, 1916 * ''Harpa ligata'' Menke, 1828 * ''Harpa minor'' Lamarck, 1822 * ''Harpa multicostata'' G. B. Sowerby I, 1822 * ''Harpa nablium'' Mörch, 1852 * † ''Harpa neozelanica'' Suter, 1917 * ''Harpa nobilis'' Lamarck, 1822 * † ''Harpa pulligera'' Tate, 1889 * ''Harpa robusta'' Röding, 1798 * ''Harpa rosea'' Lamarck, 1816 * ''Harpa striata]'' Lamarck, 1816 * ''Harpa ventricosa'' Lamarck, 1816 * ''Harpa ventricosa'' Lamarck, 1801 ;Nomen dubium: * ''Harpa fulvomichaelensis'' Orga, 1999 * ''Harpa urniformis'' Perry, 1811 Image:Harpa amouretta 01.JPG, ''

'' Image:Harpa articularis 01.JPG, ''

'' Image:Hventricosawithshell.png, ''

Harpa ventricosa ''Harpa cabriti'', previously known as ''Harpa ventricosa'' Lamarck, 1816,Rehder H. A. (1992). "''Harpa cabriti'' Fischer, 1860, a replacement name for ''Harpa ventricosa'' Lamarck, 1816". ''The Nautilus'' 106(3)123124. common name the ventral ha ...

'' Image:Harpa davidis 01.JPG, ''

'' Image:Harpa harpa 01.jpg, ''

'' Image:Harpa doris (2763438292).jpg, ''

'' Image:Prosobranchia Trio.jpg, ''

References

* Röding, P.F. 1798. ''Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturae quae olim collegerat Joa''. Hamburg : Trappii 199 pp. * Wilson, B. 1994. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods.'' Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp. * Poppe G.T., Brulet T. & Dance S.P. (1999). ''The family Harpidae.'' Conchological Iconography. ConchBooks, Hackenheim. 69pp.

External links

Harpa Photo Essay
{{Taxonbar, from=Q146930 Taxa named by Peter Friedrich Röding Gastropod genera