• Source: Euspira heros

Euspira heros, the northern moon snail, is a species of large sea snail in the family Naticidae. This large snail is rather uncommon intertidally, but is much more common subtidally. This species, like all moon snails, feeds voraciously on clams and other snails.




Description


The shell of this species is globular and can, under the right conditions, grow up to 125 mm (4.9 in) long.
The operculum is large, ear-shaped in outline, and is corneous and somewhat transparent. On beaches where the shell of this species washed up commonly, the operculum will usually also be found washed up in the drift line.




Distribution


The distribution of Euspira heros falls within the range: 51.5°N to 33°N; 76°W to 65°W. This western Atlantic species occurs in:

Canada: Labrador, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick
USA: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Maine
There is a sibling species on the Pacific coast of North America: Neverita lewisii.




Habitat


Euspira heros lives on sand substrates in infralittoral, and circalittoral parts and estuary.
It has been found at the surface to depths up to 435 m (1,427 ft)




Predation


Empty shells of clams and snails, including other moon snails, display evidence of predation by a moon snail when they are seen to have a neat "countersunk" hole drilled in them.

The powerful foot enables this gastropod to plow under the sand in search of other mollusks. Upon finding one, it "drills" a hole into the shell with its radula, releases digestive enzymes, and sucks out the somewhat predigested contents.




References



Gosner, K.L. 1971. Guide to identification of marine and estuarine invertebrates: Cape Hatteras to the Bay of Fundy. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 693 p
Abbott, R.T. (1974). American Seashells. 2nd ed. Van Nostrand Reinhold: New York, NY (USA). 663 pp
Linkletter, L.E. 1977. A checklist of marine fauna and flora of the Bay of Fundy. Huntsman Marine Laboratory, St. Andrews, N.B. 68 p.
Bromley, J.E.C., and J.S. Bleakney. 1984. Keys to the fauna and flora of Minas Basin. National Research Council of Canada Report 24119. 366 p
Brunel, P., L. Bosse, and G. Lamarche. 1998. Catalogue of the marine invertebrates of the estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Canadian Special Publication of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 126. 405 p
Trott, T.J. 2004. Cobscook Bay inventory: a historical checklist of marine invertebrates spanning 162 years. Northeastern Naturalist (Special Issue 2): 261 - 324.




External links


Eco Field Guide: Northern moon snail
Moon snails in butter

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Euspira heros
• Euspira
• List of edible molluscs
• Natica
• Polinices
• Moon shell
• List of animals of Long Island Sound
• Choptank Formation
• List of the prehistoric life of Delaware
• List of the prehistoric life of New York