Moon Snails

Naticidae, common name moon snails or necklace shells, is a family of medium to large-sized predatory sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Littorinimorpha. The shells of the species in this family are mostly globular in shape.

Naticidae is the only family in the superfamily Naticoidea.

It has been estimated that worldwide there are about 260–270 recent species of naticid snails. This group is assumed to have originated in the late Triassic or in the early Jurassic. Members of this family can be recognized by the shape of their shells, distinct appearance, or by their predatory behavior.

Distribution

Naticids are widely distributed and occur worldwide. The greatest diversity of both species and genera is found in tropical regions. Even so, naticid snails are also plentiful in temperate, Arctic and Antarctic waters.

Habitat

Moon snails live on sandy substrates, at a great variety of depths depending on the species (from the intertidal zone to thousands of meters in depth). They are often seen ploughing along in the sand, searching for bivalvic and other prey, resulting in countersunk bore-holes.

Life habits

Naticids are predatory, feeding mostly on bivalves. They will also attack almost any other shelled mollusk they encounter in the sand, such as scaphopods and other gastropods, including other moon snails. Additionally, ''Conuber sordidum'' was shown to prey on the soldier crab ''Mictyris longicarpus'' (Crustacea) by drilling predation.Huelsken, T. (2011) First evidence of drilling predation by Conuber sordidus (Swainson, 1821) (Gastropoda: Naticidae) on soldier crabs (Crustacea: Mictyridae). Molluscan Research, 31(2), 125-131

/ref> To catch soldier crabs, ''C. sordidum'' uses the same behaviour as when hunting shelled molluscan prey.

The moon snail envelops the prey and then bores a hole through the shell using its radula and an acid secretion. Once the shell is bored open, the proboscis is used to consume the flesh of the prey. The hole in the shell, which has a " countersunk" appearance with chamfered edges, and which varies in size according to the species, is a characteristic diagnostic sign of moon snail predation.

In the breeding season, the female moon snail lays a rather stiff egg mass which includes sand and mucus. These objects wash up on sandy beaches fairly often, and are known by the common name "sand collars" because of their resemblance to an old-fashioned removable shirt collar or false-collar.

Human Interaction

In Korean cuisine, moon snails are called ''golbaengi'' () and eaten as ''golbaengi-muchim'' (moon snail salad).
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Moon snail shells are attractive and relatively large, and often popular in jewellery and ornamentation.

Taxonomy

Traditional classification

Some authors have suggested a distinct separation of the Naticidae into four subfamilies: Ampullospirinae, Naticinae, Polinicinae and Sininae. This arrangement is mainly based on morphological data, such as details of the operculum including the material (calcareous in the Naticinae, corneous in the Polinicinae and Sininae) and size, and also the morphology of the shell.Marincovich L.N. 1977. ''Cenozoic Naticidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of the Northeastern Pacific''. Bulletins of American Paleontology, 70, 169-212.

2005 taxonomy

The following four subfamilies were recognized in the taxonomy of Bouchet & Rocroi (2005):

* Naticinae Guilding, 1834 - synonyms: Neveritinae Gray, 1857; Choristidae Verrill, 1882; Euspiridae Cossmann, 1907; Mammillinae Iredale & McMichael, 1962; Eunaticinini Oyama, 1469
* Sininae Woodring, 1928 - synonyms: Sigaretidae Gary, 1827; Cryptostomidae Gray, 1827
* Globisininae Powell, 1933
* Polinicinae Gray, 1847

Genera

Genera in the family Naticidae include:

Unassigned to a subfamily:
* ''Haliotinella'' Souverbie, 1875
* ''Microlinices'' Simone, 2014

subfamily Naticinae
* ''Cochlis'' Röding, 1798
* ''Cryptonatica'' Dall, 1892
* ''Lunaia'' Berry, 1964: synonym of ''Natica'' Scopoli, 1777
* ''Natica'' Scopoli, 1777
* ''Naticarius'' Duméril, 1806Huelsken, T., Wägele, H., Peters, B., Mather, A., Hollmann, M. (2011) Molecular analysis of adults and egg masses reveals two independent lineages within the infaunal gastropod ''Naticarius onca'' (Röding, 1798) (Caenogastropoda: Naticidae). Molluscan Research, 31(3), 141-151
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/ref>
* ''Notocochlis'' Powell, 1933
* ''Paratectonatica'' Azuma, 1961
* ''Proxiuber'' Powell, 1933
* ''Stigmaulax'' Mörch, 1852
* ''Tanea'' Marwick, 1931
* † '' Taniella'' Finlay & Marwick, 1937
* ''Tasmatica'' Finlay & Marwick, 1937
* ''Tectonatica'' Sacco, 1890

subfamily Globisininae
* '' Falsilunatia'' Powell, 1951
* ''Globisinum'' Marwick, 1924

subfamily Polinicinae Gray, 1847
* ''Amauropsis'' Mörch, 1857
* '' Bulbus'' Brown, 1839
* ''Conuber'' Finlay & Marwick, 1937
* '' Euspira'' Agassiz in Sowerby, 1838
* '' Friginatica'' Hedley, 1916
* ''Glossaulax'' Pilsbry, 1929
* '' Hypterita'' Woodring, 1957
* '' Kerguelenatica'' Powell, 1951
* ''Laguncula'' Benson, 1842
* ''Lunatia'' Gray, 1847
* '' Mammilla'' Schumacher, 1817
* '' Neverita'' Risso, 1826 - its subgenus or synonym includes ''Glossaulax'' Pilsbry, 1929 Majima, R. 1989. Cenozoic fossil Naticidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in Japan. Bulletins of American Paleontology, 96 (331), 1-159.Huelsken T. et al. 2006
''Neverita delessertiana (Recluz in Chenu, 1843): a naticid species (Gastropoda: Caenogastropoda) distinct from Neverita duplicata (Say, 1822) based on molecular data, morphological characters, and geographical distribution''
Zootaxa, 1257:1-25.
* ''Polinices'' Montfort, 1810 Huelsken, T., Tapken, D., Dahlmann, T., Wägele, H., Riginos, C., Hollmann, M. (2012). Systematics and phylogenetic species delimitation within Polinices s.l. (Caenogastropoda: Naticidae) based on molecular data and shell morphology. Organisms Diversity & Evolution. DOI
10.1007/s13127-012-0111-5

* ''Pseudopolinices'' Golikov & Sirenko, 1983
* ''Sinuber'' Powell, 1951
* ''Uberella'' Finlay, 1928

subfamily Sininae
* '' Calinaticina'' J. Q. Burch & Campbell, 1963
* ''Eunaticina'' Fischer, 1885
* '' Gennaeosinum'' Iredale, 1929
* ''Payraudeautia'' Bucquoy, Dautzenberg & Dollfus, 1883
* ''Sigatica'' Meyer and Aldrich, 1886
* ''Sinum'' Röding, 1798

subfamily ?
* ''Acrybia'' Adams, 1853: synonym of ''Bulbus'' T. Brown, 1839
* '' Gyrodes'' Conrad, 1860
* '' Spironema'' Meek, 1864Siemers C. T. & King N. R. (1974). "Macroinvertebrate paleoecology of a transgressive marine sandstone, Cliff House Sandstone (Upper Cretaceous), Chaco Canyon, northwestern New Mexico
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Image:Mammilla melanostoma (1).JPG, '' Mammilla melanostoma''
Image:Euspira lewisii 3.jpg, '' Neverita lewisii''
Image:Tanea undulata (Moon Snail).jpg, '' Tanea undulata''
Image:Tectonatica violacea.JPG, '' Tectonatica violacea''
Image:Crommium willemeti 01.JPG, ''Crommium willemeti''
Image:Eunaticina nitida 003.jpg, ''Eunaticina nitida''
Image:Euspira nitida-Nl.jpg, ''Euspira nitida''
Image:Globularia sigaretina 01.JPG, ''Globularia sigaretina''
Image:Mammilla sebae 01.JPG, '' Mammilla sebae''
Image:Natica hebraea 01.JPG, ''Natica hebraea''
Image:Naticarius onca 01.JPG, ''Naticarius onca''
Image:Neverita josephinia 01.JPG, '' Neverita josephinia''
Image:Notocochlis tigrina 02.JPG, ''Notocochlis tigrina''
Image:Polinices tumidus 01.JPG, '' Polinices mammilla''
Image:Sinum cymba 01.JPG, '' Sinum cymba''
Image:Tasmatica schoutanica 001.jpg, ''Tasmatica schoutanica''

References

Further reading

* Powell A. W. B. 1979. ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand
* Ponder W. & Lindberg D. 1997. ''Towards a phylogeny of gastropod molluscs; an analysis using morphological characters''. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 119: 83-265, London, .
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* Colgan D.J. et al. 2007. ''Molecular phylogenetics of Caenogastropoda (Gastropoda: Mollusca)''. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 42, 717-37.
* Torigoe K. & Inaba A. (2011) ''Revision on the classification of Recent Naticidae.'' Bulletin of the Nishinomiya Shell Museum 7: 133 + 15 pp., 4 pls.

External links

CLEMAM - Taxonomic Database on European Marine Mollusca
of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle and the Department of Systematics & Evolution, Paris.

The Naticidae of Giglio Island
at Morphobank - Homology of phenotypes over the web

Malacolog 4.1.0
- A Database of Western Atlantic Marine Mollusca
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Naturamediterraneo
- Mediterranean fauna and flora

Publications and sequences
of the Naticidae submitted to the NCBI

Miocene Gastropods and Biostratigraphy of the Kern River Area, California; United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 642

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1563463

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Gastropod families