Amonovula

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Amonovula
Gorgonian egg cowrie (Prosimnia piriei) (49257991831).jpg
Amonovula piriei may be difficult to spot.
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Ovulidae
Genus: Amonovula
Fehse, 2019
Species:
A. piriei
Binomial name
Amonovula piriei
(, 1973)
Synonyms[1]
  • Primovula piriei Petuch, 1973
  • Prosimnia piriei (Petuch, 1973)

Amonovula is a monotypic genus[2] of marine gastropod molluscs in the family Ovulidae, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries, and Amonovula piriei is the only species in the genus.[1] It is found in the western Pacific Ocean, living in association with a gorgonian; its colour varies so that it matches the colouring of its host gorgonian.

Description[]

Amonovula piriei has an elongated, compact shell, cylindrical in shape and up to 22 mm (0.9 in) in length. It is plain and shiny, and has a long slit on the underside through which the mantle protrudes. When the snail is alive, the mantle almost completely covers the shell for most of the time. Two short tentacles and two tiny eyes are sometimes visible at the front when the animal is active and the only other part of the soft tissues which can be seen is the small part of the pale pink foot which trails behind when the animal moves. The mantle is white and translucent, with contrasting pustules, which mimic the polyps of the host gorgonian. The snail is a master of camouflage; it achieves this by feeding on the host's tissues and making use of the pigments so that it matches the colour of its host.[3]

Distribution and habitat[]

Amonovula piriei is native to the western Pacific Ocean, being present in the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. It exclusively lives on warm water gorgonians in the genera Euplexaura and Echinogorgia, at depths between about 5 and 50 m (16 and 164 ft).[3]

Ecology[]

Amonovula piriei feeds on the tissues and polyps of the gorgonians on which it lives, and can be considered an ectoparasite. The sexes are separate in this species; the female deposits a cluster of a few dozen egg capsules on the host, with several hundred embryos developing in each capsule. The larvae are planktonic and drift with the current, but will need to settle on a suitable gorgonian host in order to continue their development.[3] This false cowrie is well camouflaged so that it is difficult to detect, but may be locally abundant; on the reefs of Poindimié in New Caledonia, for example, each gorgonian may host as many as a dozen of the molluscs.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Bouchet, Philippe (2021). Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O (eds.). "Amonovula piriei (Petuch, 1973)". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  2. ^ Bouchet, Philippe (2021). Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O (eds.). "Amonovula Fehse, 2019". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Leon, Virginie; Mitel, Cédric (18 January 2021). "Acanthurus tractus Poey, 1860" (in French). DORIS. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
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