Strombus gracilior

Strombus gracilior, common names the Eastern Pacific fighting conch, or the Panama fighting conch, is a species of medium to large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Strombidae, the true conchs.[1]

Strombus gracilior
Temporal range: Pleistocene–Recent
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Apertural view of a shell of the Eastern Pacific fighting conch, Strombus gracilior
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Clade: Caenogastropoda
Clade: Hypsogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Strombidae
Genus: Strombus
Species:
S. gracilior
Binomial name
Strombus gracilior
Sowerby I, 1925

Description

The length of the shell varies between 40 mm and 95 mm, the width may attain 50 mm. The high spire is covered with subsutural spines or pointed nodes on the shoulder of the whorls. The color of the shell is yellowish to yellowish-brown, interrupted in the middle with a lighter band. The aperture and the large outer lip is white bordered with orange-brown. The shell is covered with a thin, horn-covered periostracum.

The fighting conch (Strombus pugilis) from the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico is a similar species in the sculpture of the shell and in inner morphological characters.[2]

Phylogeny
Strombidae
 

Terebellum terebellum

 
 
 

Canarium urceus

 
 
 

Conomurex luhuanus

 
 
 

Tricornis raninus

 
 
 

Lambis lambis

 
 
 

Strombus

 
 
 

Eustrombus

 
 

Aliger

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A simplified version of the phylogeny and relationships of Strombidae according to Simone (2005)[2]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Strombus gallus

 
 

Strombus gigas

 
 
 

Strombus costatus

 
 
 
 

Strombus raninus

 
 

Strombus peruvianus

 
 
 
 

Strombus galeus

 
 
 

Strombus latus

 
 
 
 
 
 

Strombus pugilis

 
 

Strombus alatus

 
 
 

Strombus gracilior

 
 
 

Strombus granulatus

 
 
 
 
 
 
Phylogeny and relationships of Eastern Pacific and Atlantic Strombus species, according to Latiolais et al. (2006)[3]

The phylogenetic relationships among the Strombidae have been mainly accessed on two occasions, using two distinct methods. In a 2005 monography, Simone proposed a cladogram (a tree of descent) based on an extensive morpho-anatomical analysis of representatives of Aporrhaidae, Strombidae, Xenophoridae and Struthiolariidae.[2] However, according to Simone, only Strombus gracilior, Strombus alatus and Strombus pugilis, the type species, remained within Strombus. In Simone's cladogram, these three species constituted a distinct group based on at least five synapomorphies (traits that are shared by two or more taxa and their most recent common ancestor). The remaining taxa were previously considered as subgenera, and were elevated to genus level by Simone in the end of his analysis.[2]

In a different approach, Latiolais and colleagues (2006) proposed another cladogram that attempts to show the phylogenetic relationships of 34 species within the family Strombidae. The authors analysed 31 species in the genus Strombus and three species in the allied genus Lambis. The cladogram was based on DNA sequences of both nuclear histone H3 and mitochondrial cytochrome-c oxidase I protein-coding gene regions. In this proposed phylogeny, Strombus pugilis, Strombus alatus, Strombus granulatus and Strombus gracilior are closely related and appear to share a common ancestor.[3]

Distribution

This species is can be found on sandflats and lagoons and offshore to 45 m in the Gulf of California along West Mexico and in the Pacific Ocean along Northern Peru.

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References
  1. Bouchet, P. (2011). Strombus gracilior G.B. Sowerby I, 1825. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=564727 on 2011-03-29
  2. Simone, L. R. L. (2005). "Comparative morphological study of representatives of the three families of Stromboidea and the Xenophoroidea (Mollusca, Caenogastropoda), with an assessment of their phylogeny" (PDF). Arquivos de Zoologia. São Paulo, Brazil: Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo. 37 (2): 141–267. ISSN 0066-7870. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2012.
  3. Latiolais, J. M.; Taylor M. S.; Roy, K.; Hellberg, M. E. (2006). "A molecular phylogenetic analysis of strombid gastropod morphological diversity". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 41: 436-444.doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.027.PDF.
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