Penion maximus

Penion maximus is a species of very large predatory sea snail or whelk, commonly known as giant whelk or great whelk, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks.

Penion maximus
A shell of Penion maximus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily:
Buccinoidea
Family:
Buccinidae
Genus:
Penion
Species:
P. maximus
Binomial name
Penion maximus
(Tryon, G.W., 1881)

Description

Penion maximus is the largest species of Penion siphon whelk, and is endemic to Australia.[1][2] The species could be confused with the sympatric species P. mandarinus, however P. mandarinus is typically smaller and has a smoother shell with a shorter siphonal canal.[1]

Distribution

The range of the species extends from waters off Tasmania and Victoria to lower Queensland.[1][2]

Evolution

Penion maximus is closely related to another Australian species P. mandarinus.[2][3] The species have overlapping geographic ranges (sympatry) and may have evolved from a common ancestor via niche differentiation based on prey size and water depth.[3]

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gollark: I was just thinking "hmm, big number".
gollark: You would also have to get rid of plankton and algae and random photosynthetic bacteria and whatnot.

References
  1. Ponder, W.F. (1973). "A review of the Australian species of Penion Fischer (Neogastropoda: Buccinidae)". Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia. 2: 401–428. doi:10.1080/00852988.1973.10673868.
  2. Vaux, Felix; Hills, Simon F.K.; Marshall, Bruce A.; Trewick, Steven A.; Morgan-Richards, Mary (2017). "A phylogeny of Southern Hemisphere whelks (Gastropoda: Buccinulidae) and concordance with the fossil record". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 114 (2017): 367–381. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.06.018. PMID 28669812.
  3. Vaux, Felix; Crampton, James S.C.; Trewick, Steven A.; Marshall, Bruce A.; Beu, Alan G.; Hills, Simon F.K.; Morgan-Richards, Mary (2018). "Evolutionary lineages of marine snails identified using molecular phylogenetics and geometric morphometric analysis of shells". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 127 (October 2018): 626–637. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.06.009. PMID 29913310.


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