Tonna tessellata

Tonna tessellata, the mosaic tun,tessellate tun or maculated tun, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Tonnidae.[2]

Tonna tessellata
A Shell of Tonna tessellata from Japan on display at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Mollusca
Class:
Gastropoda
(unranked):
clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Littorinimorpha
Superfamily:
Tonnoidea
Family:
Tonnidae
Genus:
Tonna
Species:
T. tessellata
Binomial name
Tonna tessellata
(Lamarck, 1816)[1]
Synonyms[2]

Buccinum dolium Mörch, 1853
Cadus doliolum Röding, 1798
Dolium fimbriatum Sowerby I, 1827
Dolium fimbriatum var. parvulum Tapparone-Canefri, 1878
Dolium minjac Deshayes, 1844
Dolium tessellatum Lamarck, 1816

Description

The shell of an adult Tonna tessellata can be as large as 45–150 millimetres (1.8–5.9 in). It is a relatively thin and light weight shell, nearly spherical. The body whorl is inflated, with a very wide aperture. Surface is white, smooth and glossy, with distinctive brown-red markings and sculptured by thick spiral ribs. It lacks the operculum. This sea snail feeds on crustaceans, sea urchins and fishes.

Distribution

This species is widespread from South Africa, Madagascar and Western Pacific to Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Philippines and Japan. It lives in sandy seabed, at depths of 0 to 50 m.

Museum specimen. Naturalis

References
  1. Lamarck. (1816). Encycl. méthod. Vers. Atlas 3: pl. 403, figs 3a-b. World Register of Marine Species, Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  2. Tonna tessellata (Lamarck, 1816). Vos, C. (2009). Tonna tessellata (Lamarck, 1816). Accessed through the World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=410306 on 9 July 2010 .


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