Cellana mazatlandica (Sowerby I, 1839) NACELLIDAE Intertidal on - TopicsExpress



          

Cellana mazatlandica (Sowerby I, 1839) NACELLIDAE Intertidal on rocks, Chichi-jima, Bonin Islands, Japan, 82.4mm, F+, 1980/viii Contrary to the specific epiphet, the Bonin Islands Limpet is not distributed in Mazatlán, Mexico but is a famous endemic species of the Bonin Islands (aka. Ogasawara Islands), Japan. Sowerby I is said to have mistaken the locality when giving this species a name. Although for a long time it was known as C. boninensis (Pilsbry, 1891), a much better and descriptive name, due to the strict rules of zoological nomenclature it is now synonymised with C. mazatlandica and we are stuck with that senior name. This species is famous and significant because it is the only marine gastropod recognised as a natural monument in Japan and protected by law from collection (since 1970/xi/12). Thus although it is locally common in its habitat it is quite uncommon on the market. It is an intertidal grazer feeding on microalgae films, characterised by a tall shell and very strong radial ribs. It is a large cellanid, the typical shell length is about 70mm but very large specimens may reach 100mm.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 11:44:54 +0000

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