Acanthinucella spirata

Acanthinucella spirata
A live Acanthinucella spirata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Muricidae
Genus: Acanthinucella
Species:
A. spirata
Binomial name
Acanthinucella spirata
(Blainville, 1832)
Synonyms

Monoceros unicarinata Sowerby I, 1835
Purpura brevidens Conrad, 1837
Purpura engonata Conrad, 1837
Purpura lapilloides var. aurantia Dall, 1908
Purpura spirata Blainville, 1832

Acanthinucella spirata is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.

Biology

This species is predatory, preying on the genus Littorina. Its egg capsules are 4-9 mm long, and hold 17-49 embryos. It uses paralytic venom, presumably to hunt its prey.

Distribution

A. spirata occurs on the West Coast, or the Pacific Ocean coast of North America, living in rocky intertidal zones.

Human use

This species is known to have been exploited by some Native Americans such as the Chumash of Central California approximately 1000 to 1200 AD.

References

  1. 1 2 Acanthinucella spirata (Blainville, 1832). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 24 April 2010.
  2. ↑ Hemingway, George (1978). "Evidence for a paralytic venom in the intertidal snail, Acanthina spirata (Neogastropoda: Thaisidae)". ScienceDirect. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  3. ↑ Cowles, Dave (2005). "Acanthina spirata". inverts.wallawalla.edu. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
  4. ↑ C. Michael Hogan, Los Osos Back Bay, Megalithic Portal, editor A. Burnham (2008)