Faunus ater

Faunus ater is a species of brackish water snail with an operculum, an aquatic gastropod mollusk in the family Pachychilidae.[1]

Faunus ater
A shell of Faunus ater
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Sorbeoconcha
Superfamily:
Cerithioidea
Family:
Pachychilidae
Genus:
Faunus

de Montfort, 1810
Species:
F. ater
Binomial name
Faunus ater
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Faunus ater (Linnaeus, 1758). Museum specimens.

Faunus ater is the only species within the genus Faunus.[1]

Distribution

The distribution of Faunus ater includes:

Description

The periostracum is thick, and the color of the periostracum is dark brown or black.[1] The shell has about 20 whorls.[1] The apical whorls may be eroded in older snails.[1] The aperture is ovate and white.[1] The shell is unique among Cerithioidea, because it has two deep sinuses: an anal sinus which is close to the suture and an anterior sinus more forward in the aperture.[1] The height of the aperture is about one-fifth of the height of the shell.[1]

The height of the shell is usually 50–60 mm, but can be up to 90 mm.[1]

The operculum is oval, corneous and dark brown in color.[1]

The snail has a broad snout.[1] The radula is large and is located in a correspondingly large buccal mass.[1]

Ecology

This snail lives in slightly brackish water.[1] It has also been reported from freshwater.[1] It is the only pachychilid species that lives in brackish water; the other species in the family are freshwater snails.

The population density can reach up to 6700 snails per m2.[1]

This snail probably feeds by grazing.[1]

It is oviparous.[1] It probably has free-swimming larvae.[1]

Human use

This snail is used as a food source for humans in the Philippines and in Thailand.[1]

gollark: What?
gollark: The accuracy isn't brilliant, but it works.
gollark: I just got trilateration of signals working. Tell me if there's a specific channel you want monitored or if you want a feed from it somehow.
gollark: OR ARE THEY?
gollark: I'm going to work out automated restocking from my storage system soonish.

References
  1. Lok A. F. S. L., Ang W. F., Ng P. X., Ng B. Y. Q. & Tan S. K. (2011). "Status and distribution of Faunus ater (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mollusca: Cerithioidea) in Singapore". Nature in Singapore 4: 115-121. PDF.
  2. Solem A. (1953). "Marine and fresh-water mollusks of the Solomon Islands". Fieldiana Zoology 34(22): 213-227. page 220.

Further reading
  • Gray J. E. (1867). "On the species of the genera Latiaxis, Faunus and Melanatria". American Journal of Conchology 3: 330.
  • Houbrick R. S. (1991). "Anatomy and systematic placement of Faunus Montfort 1810 (Prosobranchia: Melanopsinae)". Malacological Review 24: 35-54.
  • Yap C. K., Hisyam M. N. D., Edward F. B., Cheng W. H. & Tan S. G. (2010). "Concentrations of heavy metal in different parts of the gastropod, Faunus ater (Linnaeus), collected from intertidal areas of Peninsular Malaysia". Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science 33(1): 45-60.

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