weevers ( or weeverfish ) are 9 extant species of fishes of family trachinidae , order perciformes .

they are long ( up to 37 cm ) , mainly brown in color , and have venomous spines on their first dorsal fins and gills .

during the day , weevers bury themselves in sand , just showing their eyes , and snatch prey as it comes past , which consists of shrimp and small fish .

weevers are unusual in not having swim bladders , as do most bony fish , and as a result , sink as soon as they stop actively swimming .

with the exception of t. cornutus from the southeast pacific , all species in this family are restricted to the eastern atlantic ( including the mediterranean ) .

a tenth , extinct species , callipterus speciosus , is known from the monte bolca lagerstätte of the lutetian epoch .

weevers are sometimes used as an ingredient in the recipe for bouillabaisse .

weevers are sometimes erroneously called ' weaver fish ' , although the word is unrelated .

in fact , the word ' weever ' is believed to derive from the old french word wivre , meaning serpent or dragon , from the latin vipera .

it is sometimes also known as the viperfish , although it is not related to the viperfish proper ( i.e. , the stomiids of the genus chauliodus ) .

in australia , sand perches of the family mugilidae are also known as weevers .

weever

weever in the century dictionary , the century co . , new york , 1911
briars g l , gordon g s . envenomation by the lesser weever fish .
had never even seen a lesser weever although i did see the dorsal spines . i
the lesser weever lives buried in sand , with only its head and back visible .
information on the lesser weever is currently being researched and written and will appear here shortly .
sea was calm and the light level high . the weever was about 13 / 14 inches long ;
they took her to the lifeguard , who instantly recognised that maisie had been stung by a weever fish .
figure 1 venomous marine creatures . clockwise from top left : physalia , lionfish , stingray , lesser weever fish .
minister de weever commends awareness collaboration between police and nagico on road safety ; get checked , life before speed .
while looking for information on the weever fish , i have just come across your website and have something to contribute . i ' ve been fascinated with weever fish ever since i was unfortunate enough to have encountered one in 1994 .
the species found in shallow waters is called the lesser weever with the scientific name of echiichthys vipera . the word ' weever ' was first found used in the english language during the 17th century and comes from the old northern french word ' wivre ' .
whenever possible , wear protective footwear - surf sandals or rubber - soled beach shoes will protect your feet from the weever fish .
it ' s nearly impossible to spot the weever fish because they hide and rest in sandy areas of shallow water near the shore . one of the most potent venoms is injected by one of the nine species of the trachinidae family - the lesser weever fish .
now the uk may not have bacterial infested coral , sea urchins , hospitalising jelly fish , bull sharks , white pointers or generalised tropical water badness , but european waters are home to one of the nine weever fish species . i give you the lesser weever .
horton a . beware of the weever fish ! british marine life study society . available at : urltoken ( accessed 15 december 2005 )
davies r s , evans r j . weever fish stings : a report of two cases presenting to an accident and emergency department .
weever fish can be found in the waters of the atlantic ocean , north sea , mediterranean sea , and other coastal regions . in countries like portugal , spain , france , morocco , and the united kingdom , weever fish stings are quite common , especially during summer .
should a bather step on a weever fish then the pain is quite excruciating as the spines embed into the flesh and discharge their poison .
should a bather step on a weever fish then the pain is excruciating as the spines embed into the human flesh and discharge their poison .
what made you want to look up weever ? please tell us where you read or heard it ( including the quote , if possible ) .
that’s weever . not weaver . some people really seem to care about this , but fair play , it’s the fish , not the bird .
st . martin news network - minister de weever commends awareness collaboration between police and nagico on road safety ; get checked , life before speed .
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only on the affected finger occurring some weeks after the weever fish sting . a rare complication - we should see if it occurs after jellyfish stings .
) . cases of weever fish stings in which hwi was not used , and in which pain persisted for several days have been reported from wales .
greater weever from the belgian part of the north sea . [ photo © hans hillewaert / cc by - sa - 3 . 0 , 2005 ]
if people knew it was a weever fish ( sting ) , they would know to go straight up to the lifeguard ,
fiona said .
, found in deeper water and occasionally seen on the fishmongers slab . the word ' weever ' was first found used in the english language during the 17th century and comes from the old northern french word ' wivre ' . the venomous fin spines are a defensive armament and the weever does use them to capture prey .
beach - goers have been warned to be wary of the poisonous weever fish during the current spell of good weather and leading in to spring tides at the weekend .
weever fish poison has been known to induce allergic reaction and even anaphylactic shock , although the last known case of death in the british isles occurred 90 years ago .
the weever fish is venomous , well camouflaged and usually attacks before and after low tide . its sting is painful and lasting . learn how to treat it properly .
carducci m , mussi a , leone g , catricala c . raynaud ' s phenomenon secondary to weever fish stings . arch dermatol 132 : 838 - 839 , 1996 .
despite its small size , the weever fish features long , needle - sharp spines that will inject venom in their most frequent victims - surfers , beachgoers , swimmers , and fishermen .
if the pain gets really bad , take solace from the fact that at least you didn’t have something several hundred times your body weight step on your head today . the weever’s day was worse .
a 50 - year - old fisherman was stung in his right hand by a great weever fish ( trachinus draco ) . the crew did not have sufficient medical knowledge to adequately treat him on board . severe pain , oedema of the hand , fever , vomiting and syncope occurred . treatment with antibiotics , on board , after disembarkation and later in hospital for six days reduced the severity of the symptoms . however , two years after the accident , the patient still suffered from a dysfunction of the right hand as well as extreme fatigue and intermittent joint complaints . the symptoms mostly commonly arising from a weever fish sting are : severe pain , local erythema and oedema . systemic symptoms may sometimes occur : headache , syncope , bradycardia , fever and hypotension . the symptoms of continuous joint pain and severe fatigue following a weever sting have not been previously described . the weever fish venom contains a mixture of biogenous amines , of which some are known : 5 - hydroxytryptamine , epinephrine , norepinephrine and histamine . the venom ' s composition has yet to be fully elucidated . in the event of a weever fish sting , the first aid which should be given is : clean the wound and immerse the affected part of the body for at least 30 minutes in water which is as hot as the victim can tolerate ( 40 - 45 degrees c ) . persons at risk from weever fish stings are bathers , especially from the lesser weever fish ( echiichthys vipera ) , and sea fishermen . general practitioners and first aiders in coastal areas as well as sea fishermen should be informed about the first aid to be given in the event of a weever sting .
south wales evening post reported 08 / 08 / 00 five weever stings over that weekend and around 40 reported from swansea and gower every year . people are told to report to the beach lifeguard for treatment .
according to john leech , the weever fish spends most of the time buried under the sand with just its venomous black dorsal fin showing above the sandy bottom . it grows to a maximum length of 15 centimetres .
i ' m always looking to catch new species , and whereas i ' ve caught plenty of lesser weevers , i ' ve never seen a greater weever . anyone know where they are found , or any other details ?
the most common symptoms of a weever fish sting include severe pain , fever , swelling , nausea , vomiting , headache , low blood pressure , itching , fainting , tremors , seizures , abdominal cramps . deaths are extremely rare .
great bay ( dcomm ) : - - - minister of public health , social development and labour hon . cornelius de weever , commends the collaboration between nagico insurances and the police force of st . maarten with respect to promoting road safety .
the weever fish sting is quite intense and acute because the animal is armed with toxic dorsal spines . initially , people think they stepped on something sharp but , after five minutes , they start feeling an intense burning pain that radiates up the leg .
mr leech advised that “the worst thing you can do is walk gently along the beach” , and encouraged members of the public to make plenty of commotion by stomping their feet on the sand which alerts the weever to their presence and enables it to escape .
swimmers and surfers have been reminded by irish water safety to beware of the venomous weever fish . irish water safety ceo john leech is reminding swimmers , surfers and all beach users of the little sandy coloured fish that lives in the sea on our beaches .
, can cause an even more painful injury than the weever , but it will take really careless fisherman to get pierced by the serrated spine that contains the venom glands underneath the whip - like tail . this fish will swim into shallow water shared by bathers .
the greater weever spawns during summer in shallow coastal waters with soft bottoms with sand or gravel . during winter it migrates to deeper area down to 150 m . this species often lays buried with just the eyes and tip of first dorsal fin exposed . the first dorsal fin rays , as well as the spine on the pre - operculum contains venomous spines protecting the species from predators . during night the greater weever leaves the burrow to feed on small invertebrates and fishes . adults normally reach a total length of 25 cm .
if a weever fish stings you , you ' ll notice that the pain reaches its peak roughly half an hour after the sting . then , it will gradually decrease . however , in some cases , the uncomfortable sensation will remain for up to 24 hours .
in his article
beware the weever fish
andy states that he has never discovered a weever at toddler bathing depth and swimmers do not need to worry unless they put their foot down . this is not true . we have many weever fish stings in cornwall . at low water springs the fish are in the sand that is barely damp from the sea and stings occur . at these times the locals rake up sandeels , a favoured bass fishing bait , by a process called vingling . a blade [ vingler ] with a hooked end is raked through the sand in a figure of eight fashion . the sandeels are raked out and grabbed with the opposite hand . not infrequently a weever is raked out and if the grabbing hand is not gloved a sting results . this is apart from bathers and toddlers being stung . the best advice is to warn everyone to wear
jelly shoes .
i have raked up many weevers in sand not covered by the sea and my eldest daughter has been stung twice . as a result we all cover our feet .
i was stung by a weever on porth ceriad beach near abersoch in north wales . as i was limping away to the doctor ' s surgery , loads of other people came over to tell me that they also been stung ( or knew someone ) on that particular coastline .
she was really squealing and distressed that it was so sore ,
she said .
i went to the lifeguard station and as soon as i said to them ' she is squealing with something wrong with her foot ' , they said ' it ' s a weever fish ' .
| wiv | n . e17 . [ perh . transf . use of ofr . wivre serpent , dragon , var . of guivre f . l vipera viper . ] more fully weever - fish . any of various elongated ne atlantic fishes of the genus trachinus and family trachinidae , which lie half buried in sand and have venomous dorsal and opercular spines with which they can inflict painful wounds ; esp . ( more fully lesser weever ) t . vipera , which is common along european and mediterranean coasts ( also called viperfish ) . also ( austral . ) , any of various sand perches of the family mugiloididae .
the dorsal spine of the weever fishes ( trachinidae ) has a grooved structure containing a venom gland ; in addition , there is also a stinger located on the opercular ( gill cover ) structure . both the stinger and the dorsal spine can be extremely painful if stepped on in shallow waters . similar venom - bearing structures…
family trachinidae ( weever fishes ) eocene to present . body elongated , compressed , deep at head end , tapering to narrow , small caudal fin ; a separate short - based spinous dorsal fin with black membrane and poison glands along grooves in each spine ; anal and soft dorsal fins long - based ; a long spine on…
minister of public health hon . cornelius de weever , says the road safety initiative also falls within the scope of public health and calls on the community as part of his ' get checked ' campaign especially motorists to check your speed and be observant of pedestrians , bike / bicycle riders ( by adults and children ) and other road users , and remember life before speed .
they are found all round the irish coast but mainly in sandy areas where the water is shallow . the public are most at risk close to the mean low water spring tides . this occurs when you have a new moon or a full moon . this causes swimmers , walkers and surfers to venture further out on the beach in to the area where the weever fish live .
although marine envenomation is more commonly associated with warmer regions than the uk , the relevance of this topic and of hwi is not restricted to tropical and subtropical areas . of the 146 cases of puncture‐type stings included in the reported cases series , a total of 47 were due to weever fish in european waters and 68 were caused by fish kept in tanks by aquarists ( see table 4
at the national marine aquarium we have these incredible weever fish for you to look at . you can also find them on our coastlines ; they can bury themselves in the sand and have a really painful sting . the venom it has is a type of protein , so if you get stung put your foot in the hottest water you can ( without scalding yourself ) and this should ease the pain .
several species of marine animals cause a ‘sting ' by puncturing the victim ' s skin with a specialised apparatus and introducing venom into the puncture wound . this group includes sea urchins , cone shells , starfish , stingrays , catfish , weever fish , and a family of fish known as scorpaenidae . the scorpaenidae envenomate by erecting spines on their dorsal , anal , and pelvic fins able to pierce skin and introduce venom . those found in tropical and temperate waters include lionfish ( pterois ) , scorpion fish ( scorpaena ) and the lethal stonefish ( synanceja ) . envenomation produces severe localised pain , swelling , and often tissue necrosis . systemic symptoms may be mild or severe with cardiorespiratory collapse in the case of the stonefish . weever fish are found off the coast of uk and cause severe pain but less severe systemic symptoms .
1 . immerse your foot in very hot water ( 40°c / 104°f ) for no less than 30 minutes ; 2 . use a paracetamol to relieve the pain ; 3 . gently remove all weever fish spines from your foot using tweezers ; 4 . squeeze the wound to allow bleeding to wash out venom ; 5 . clean the affected area with water and soap ; 6 . rinse the wound with fresh water ;
the treatment was immersion in a large bowl of hot water - this got rid of the terrible pain , although the site of the sting is still a bit sore . the g . p had a look at it , and said that no further treatment was required , but i think i might have , as you suggest , a bit of weever spine embedded in my foot , so i ' ll see how it goes !
i was stung on the tip of my right index finger by a greater weever three years ago in tenerife . after spending four days in the local hospital in intense pain , with my whole arm swollen to the size of my thigh , i have lost the use of this finger : i cannot bend it nor straighten it , it is always cold to the touch and any slight scratches take five to six weeks to heal .
you are very unlikely to see ‘the bullet that hits you’ , your first knowledge of the weever fish will be a sharp scratch underfoot as you wade through shallow water . over the next minute or two you’ll fast realise that the pain is worsening , and your foot may subsequently develop redness and swelling , or areas of numbness . if this is the case and there is no obvious abrasion to your skin , it will most likely be the weever fish as few other injuries follow this pattern in tidal sandy east atlantic waters . ideally , you need to get out of the sea and submerse your foot in as - hot - as - bearable water as soon as possible , as this destroys the heat sensitive protein based toxins and helps alleviate symptoms . there is obvious risk of further injury here from burning , especially if you’ve already taken pain killers , so be warned and take care .
have been received ) but swimmers usually do not need to worry unless they put their foot down . the weever is a naff swimmer : it its sort of wobbles about as it leaves its sandy hiding place . it spends most of its life buried waiting for a passing small fish before suddenly emerging from the sand to engulf its prey in its large mouth . the weever has to be quick to catch is prey though , and for half a metre it has a fair turn of speed , before sinking to the sea floor . it then dives straight down to the sand gain burying itself with its rear end first . if it cannot hide in this way it will panic and it is conceivable that in the unlikely event it jumped into your wellies it would thrash around stinging the occupant on multiple occasions . this fish does not have a swim bladder , the device used by most bony fish to keep buoyant .
the spines usually stay with the weever fish for its next malicious attack , but rarely they snap and remain imbedded in the skin . this can prolong inflammation and increasing the chances of subsequent infection , so it’s worth a visual inspection of the wound for foreign bodies . this is especially important if the site of the injury overlies a joint . see our urchin injuries article if you see a spine fragment after inspection for information on removal , as the same principles apply .
the poison is a type of protein and is heat labile . most reports of stings occur during the month of august . this does not mean that this fish are particularly prevalent inshore during this month but merely reflects the greater numbers of bathers as the sea temperature reaches the highest of the year . the only death on record after someone being stung by a weever occurred as long ago as 1927 , when an angler suffered multiple stings whilst fishing off dungeness in the uk .
about four years ago i was unlucky enough to step on a weever at dawlish . i was trying to get onto my nephews windsurfer and stepped off into about three feet of water . i had never heard of weever fish before so i thought i had stepped onto a piece of glass or got caught by a jelly fish . i walked up the beach and as the pain got worse i decided it was time to go to the first aid , who immersed my foot in water as hot as i could stand it , for about 20 minutes . fortunately i had only just caught one or two spines so the pain subsided fairly quickly and i was able to walk to our car with nothing worse than a sore foot . however a few months later i was stung by a bee , a relatively common occurrence as we kept them at the time . ( this normally had no greater effect than localised pain and a small swelling ) . on this occasion i suffered an
( nottingham ) put her foot down on crantock beach , near newquay , in a metre of water over sand , and received an excruciating sting from what was certainly a weever fish , leaving three puncture marks in her toe . the pain responded to hot water treatment subsiding not immediately but after 20 minutes . however , the wound swelled up and after 2 operations , the second requiring a 6 day stay in hospital , the second toe is still inflamed and swollen on 11 september 2000 .
the mouth itself is in an unusual position on its head , oblique and almost vertical and contains some of the most sharp and vicious looking teeth in the undersea world . luckily it only reaches about 15 cm long . the weever has to be quick to catch is prey though , and for half a metre it has a fair turn of speed , before sinking to the sea floor . this fish does not have a swim bladder , the device used by most bony fish to keep buoyant .
we advise the public to avoid swimming approximately one to two hours either side of low water to reduce the risk of stepping on them until the tides reverts back towards neaps later the following week . the public should wear flip flops or sandals when walking on the beach close to low water . when entering the water , make plenty of noise with you feet and kick up the sand a little , this alerts the weever fish to your presence and they normally swim out in to deeper water away from you .
trachinus draco is known from morocco to mauritania , to the canary islands and madeira . its range extends northward into the mediterranean and black seas up the atlantic coast to norway and the northern part of the danish straits . the greater weever is a marine species commonly occurring and reproducing in kattegat , and in the baltic in the belt seas and the sound . it is found at depths ranging from zero to 200 m . this species is locally abundant and widespread , and well researched . it is assessed as least concern .
trachinus draco is known from morocco to mauritania , to the canary islands and madeira . its range extends northward into the mediterranean and black seas up the atlantic coast to norway and the northern part of the danish straits ( whitehead et al . 1989 ) . the greater weever is a marine species commonly occurring and reproducing in kattegat , and in the baltic in the belt seas and the sound ( helcom 2013 red list assessment project ) . it is found at depths ranging from zero to 200 metres ( smith in press ) .
my partner was walking her dog on castlerock beach on the north coast of northern ireland , when she saw a small fish in a beach pool , she thought she was doing the right thing by putting it into deeper water she lifted it and immediately screamed out in pain . she was stung on the thumb , that was three weeks ago and she still has pain in it . we have only just found out it was a weever fish which i have never heard of before but i will certainly be looking out for in future .
you won ' t see a weever fish easily but you will know it ' s there if you are unfortunate enough to stand on one since its back has a defensive sting mechanism . the sting can be very painful but will not cause permanent damage . according to john leech , the poison is a type of protein and is heat labile . most reports of stings occur during the month of august . this does not mean that this fish are particularly prevalent inshore during this month but merely reflects the greater numbers of bathers as the sea temperature reaches the highest of the year .
the pain is at its most intense for the first two hours when the foot normally goes red and swells up , and then it may feel numb until the following day with irritation and pain that may last for up to two weeks . sometimes , the spine breaks off in the foot and it will cause discomfort until it is removed . you won ' t see a weever fish easily but you will know it ' s there if you are unfortunate enough to stand on one since its back has a defensive sting mechanism . the sting can be very painful but will not cause permanent damage .
the mouth of the weever fish is in an unusual position on its head , oblique and almost vertical , and contains some of the most sharp and vicious looking teeth in the undersea world . luckily it only reaches about 15 cm long . one danger is that it can cause anaphylactic shock or allergic reaction and people have been known to die . people who have been stung should take painkillers and if they develop an allergic reaction to the sting , a course of antihistamines is recommended seek assistance from a lifeguard who are all qualified first aiders . aspivenin syringes can painlessly draw out poison from the wound .
contrary to popular cornish belief , they don’t migrate here in the summer ( or ‘commute’ as one surfer said ! ) . they are in our waters year round travelling in and out with the tide , feeding off crustaceans and other small fish down to about 50m , but the number of reported incidents increases significantly in the summer due to the increased numbers of people in the surf , and the fact that people stop wearing boots . in reality , stepping on a weever fish is rarely a serious injury , but can be severely painful and will make you wish is wasn’t low tide with a long walk up the beach .
as we approach the bank holiday weekend , ceo of irish water safety john leech reminds swimmers , surfers and all beach users of the little sandy coloured fish that lives in the sea on our beaches . it spends most of the time buried under the sand with just its venomous black dorsal fin showing above the sandy bottom . it grows to a maximum length of 15 centimetres . they are found all round the irish coast but only in sandy areas where the water is warm and shallow close to the mean low water tide line . there is a new moon on tuesday and that will give us spring tides which means that swimmers and surfers will have to venture further out on the beach in to the area where the weever live .
biology . venomous fish carry venom - gland - bearing fin rays for self defense . the venom glands are located mainly in the dorsal fins , but they can also be found in the ventral and anal fins ( as observed in scorpion fish , lion fish , and stone fish , which are marine animals ) or in the dorsal and pectoral fin ( in catfish—mostly freshwater species ) . stingrays have 1 or more serrated stings , located on their whip - like tails , that may exceed 30 cm in length . freshwater stingrays ( potamotrygon species ) are found in rivers and lakes in south america and africa . weever fish ( of the mediterranean and eastern atlantic coastal waters ) and toad fish possess venomous stings on their gill covers and in the dorsal fins ( figure 3 ) .
scientific synonyms and common names trachinus radiatus cuvier , 1829 synonyms : trachinus radiatus cuvier , 1829 , in cuv . & val . , hist . nat . poissons , 3 : xxi , 250 , pl . 61 ( nice , naples , messine ) . syntypes : mnhn no . a 3165 - 3167 . ? trachinus vainus rafinesque , 1810 , caratt . gen . spec . sicil . : 24 ( sicily ) . probably this species . pseudotrachinus radiatus : bleeker , 1861 : 378 . trachinus radiatus : soljan , 1948 : 237 dieuzeide et al . , 1955 : 115 albuquerque , 1954 - 1956 : 791 lozano rey , 1960 : 219 , fig . 84 , pl . 11 ( fig . 3 ) bini , 1968 , 5 : 157 , col . fig . common names : bora [ es ] el agrab [ ar ] streaked weever [ en ] trachino di fondo [ it ] tracina di fondo [ it ] tracina raggiata [ it ] vive rayée [ fr ]
specific antivenom is available for the treatment of stonefish and box jellyfish stings . otherwise , various treatments have been proposed for marine envenomation , although many have little scientific basis . traditional remedies have included vinegar , fig juice , boiled cactus , heated stones , hot urine , hot water , and ice . 5 , 7 established national and international guidelines advocate the use of vinegar and application of cold for selected types of marine envenomation . the use of heat therapy , traditionally in the form of hwi has previously been reserved for envenomation by penetrating fish stings . more recently , there has been increased interest in applying this treatment to surface stings . 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 the use of hwi or heat application as the initial treatment for “puncture”‐type fish stings has a long history . the earliest record of the effective use of heat in the treatment of weever fish stings was in 1758 . it was noted that german fishermen found a hot poultice “a most effective cure” . 7 standard advice is to submerge the affected part in hot water at as high a temperature as the patient can tolerate for 30–90 minutes . 7
scientific synonyms and common names trachinus draco linnaeus , 1758 synonyms : trachinus draco linnaeus , 1758 , syst . nat . , ed . x : 250 ( ' habitat in oceano septentrionali ' ) . syntype : bmnh no . 1853 . 11 . 12 . 7 . trachinus lineatus schneider , 1801 , blochii syst . ichth . : 55 , pl . 10 ( ' mare mediterraneum ' ) . trachinus draco : day , 1881 , 1 , pl . xxx i smitt , 1893 , pl . iv ( fig . 3 ) andersson , 1942 , , pl . 25 soljan , 1948 : 236 dieuzeide et . al . , 1955 : 113 albuquerque , 1954 - 1956 : 789 poljakov et al . , 1958 : 160 lozano rey , 1960 : 215 , pl . 11 ( fig . 2 ) banarescu , 1964 : 763 svetovidov , 1964 : 336 , fig . 103 bini , 1968 , 5 : 153 - 154 , col . fig . wheeler , 1969 : 382 , fig . & pl . 11 . common names : escorpion [ es ] grande vive [ fr ] greater weever [ en ] trachino dragone [ it ] tracina drago [ it ] grote pieterman [ ne ]
. ) this is meant to bring about rapid and permanent relief , but i have fortunately not needed to put this treatment to the test . most reports of stings occur during the month of august . this does not mean that this fish are particularly prevalent inshore during this month but merely reflects the greater numbers of bathers as the sea temperature reaches the highest of the year . the fish is also encountered by shrimpers pushing their net along the sandy shallows in the first half of the year . the front beam of the net dislodges the fish that may be completely buried under the sand . they are also caught by anglers . many of these rod and line fishermen do not know what they have caught and may be in for an unpleasant surprise . the only death i have on record after someone being stung by a weever occurred as long ago as 1927 , ( this could be 1933 , the original file has been mislaid ) when an angler suffered multiple stings whilst fishing off dungeness . ( as this is the only death recorded , the suspicions are that the victim may have died of other medical causes exacerbated by the multiple stings . another report of a death , i have been unable to confirm . )
time in the hot water varies according to who you ask , but the uk national poisons information service ( a site used by doctors that advises on random poisons ) recommends 30 – 90 minutes , or until the pain is easing , and that this heat treatment can be initiated to some effect up to 2 hours after the initial injury . hot flannels are an alternative if immersing the site of the injury is impractical . if in peak season on a main beach , then the best option here is to head up to the lifeguard hut as they see more weever fish injuries than anyone . they are very experienced , and chances are they will have already put the kettle on as they see you hobbling up the beach . out of season or in remote areas , tried techniques include knocking on car doors for sweet old ladies with a thermos of coffee and a handy sandwich tupperware box , if it’s not too hot to drink it should be the perfect temperature ! if no hot water is available , simple pain killers and anti - inflammatories are the way forward , safe in the knowledge that the worst of the pain should start to reside in a few hours , though pain can remain for 24 hours or longer depending on the sensitivity of the area stung . rarely symptoms may be more severe , including headache , fever , chills , delirium , nausea , vomiting and dizziness .
greater weever landings are declared from the following fao regions : northeast atlantic , mediterranean and black sea . the overall trend in landings is one of dramatic fluctuations with a general increase in landings over time . the majority of landings are declared from the northeast atlantic fishing zone . within this fishing zone , the majority of recent landings are declared by sweden ( fao 2011 ) . in the waters of kattegat , denmark , t . draco is a commercial species which is used as bait and also for human consumption . landings peaked at around 1 , 000 tonnes in 1957 , and then gradually declined to around 100 tonnes in the early 1970s . after a subsequent peak to 500 tonnes , recent landings have declined to 40 tonnes . the catch record for sweden is incomplete and appears well correlated to landings in denmark . the pound - net fishery , which operated from may - september , accounted for 41 % of the landings from 1952 to 1976 . this fishery has mostly been abandoned in favour of trawl fishing , which occasionally target this species directly , but more often take it as bycatch ( bagge 2004 ) . in the baltic sea , both monitory data and commercial landings show a positive trend in the last decades . swedish international bottom trawl survey ( ibts ) data in the kattegat show no long term trend in sampling in the first quarter but data from the third quarter sampling between 1991 and 2010 show a strong increase after 2000 . the same pattern is seen in a coastal bottom trawl monitoring in kattegat . the german acoustic survey only dates back to 1995 but shows the same pattern of increase in kattegat as well as in öresund and the belt seas in the 2000s . swedish commercial landings from kattegat 1999 and 2011 show a drastic increase from less than 10 tonnes yearly before 2006 to almost 800 tonnes in 2011 ( helcom 2013 red list assessments ) .
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beware of a little ( > 10 cm ) sandy coloured fish that lives in the english channel . it spends most of the time actually buried under the sea bed with just its venomous dorsal fin showing above the sandy bottom . on the rare occasions when it is plentiful , rows of erect black triangles decorate the sandy floor of the sea bed .
woe betide a bather who steps upon a buried fish . the pain is usually described as excruciating as the spines embed into the human flesh and discharge their venom . the pain is at its most intense for the first two hours when the foot goes red and swells up and is then it feels numb until the following day with irritation and pain that may last for up to two weeks . sometimes , the spine breaks off in the foot and it will cause discomfort until it is removed .
the venom is a type of protein and is heat labile . this means that the only treatment is to put the effected limb in water as hot as the victim can stand without causing scalding . ( in tests , the protein denatured above
the fish ' s mouth itself is in an unusual position on its head , oblique and almost vertical and contains some of the most sharp and vicious looking teeth in the undersea world . luckily it only reaches about 15 cm long .
scuba divers should learn not to reach out and touch a ray swimming slowly in mid - water . most true rays are competent enough swimmers using their ' wings ' to flap rapidly away from a divers hand . however , the electronic rays of the genus torpedo do not use their ' wings ' and are slow swimmers . when touched even small specimens will ' zap ' the curious , and a large specimen can deliver a shock of 220 volts at 8 amps . this is a rare fish in sussex seas . there are no records of shark attacks in british seas .
are responsible for more stings than any other marine animal in the seas around britain . not all species are stingers and the two species most often seen in sussex , the
are reckoned to be harmless . jellyfish have limited swimming abilities and there is always a chance of a dangerous species getting washed up between the tides . even washed up they can sting !
a final warning on the coast of the busy shipping route . containers containing dangerous substances can get washed off merchant vessels like the cyanide canisters on brighton beach a few years ago .
to put everything in perspective , thousands of people visit the beach each year and are more likely to come to grief from broken glass or sunburn .
was caught on rod and line over the mud of poole bay in 8 metres of water and its length was estimated at 12 cm .
developed by the learning company , inc . copyright ( c ) 1997 tlc properties inc .
tammy horton of the school of animal and microbial sciences , the university of reading is doing her ph . d . on a cymothoid isopod ,
, that parasitises the lesser weeverfish in uk waters . this isopod lives in the buccal cavity . one of her papers on this creature was in the jmba .
change . the occurrence of c . steindachneri in e . vipera from arcachon ,
years . our data confirm that c . steindachneri is able to parasitize a broad
yesterday . took me while to work out what it was - i was windsurfing at camber sands and landed on my hand in about 1 / 2 metre of water - thought i had put my hand on a sharp shell fragment - a little blood . . . but just kept stinging .
i ' ll have to ask them what they recommend . torrential rain today .
species ) stings are frequent summer accidents in the coastal towns of italy . patients usually present with intense pain in the affected part ( usually the foot , or less frequently , the hand ) , followed within a few hours by spreading erythema and edema . rarely , systemic symptoms occur , including hypotension and depressed respirations . death is possible , but extremely rare . the authors noted
this happened on a beautiful quiet beach on an idyllic , hot sunny day , around 9 . 00am in county wexford , ireland ( rosslare strand ) . i waded out to around calf depth and suddenly felt
punched
on the side of the foot .
almost instantly , the pain became very severe . i walked ( staggered , more like ) back to my mother and son , the only other people on the beach and collapsed . while hyperventilating , my mind began trying to work out what had happened . i decided that i ' d been stung by some creature with a nerve toxin venom and that i would soon begin to die .
my mother and son couldn ' t do anything for me as we were well off the beaten track - we had walked well away from the beach ' s access points before stopping . both were scared to leave me in case i died .
two hours later , i noticed that the pain began to reduce and two hours after that again , i was able to stand . we made it back to the car and back to our holiday accommodation . the next day , i began to have a huge allergic reaction with my nose and eyes streaming constantly . this lasted for two days before subsiding . i didn ' t seek medical attention but did ask around ,
for the rest of our holiday , for information on any stinging sea creatures in the area . one man said ,
that would be the wexford stinger fish
.
two weeks later , i had to seek medical attention because the site of the sting became redder and sore and seemed infected . a course of antibiotics sorted me out finally .
as a zoology graduate , i ' d be interested in knowing if anyone has characterised this venom . however , i hope this account is useful for something . i ' d also be keen to join your society , if that ' s possible .
aspivenin syringes which can painlessly draw out the poison from the wound . it can also help to treat the sting area with hot water .
shock reaction and probably was saved by the sheer luck of being at a doctors house at the time . i now carry an epipen . i have asked my g . p if there is any connection and he thinks it ' s unlikely but i have a strong suspicion that it may have had the effect of heightening my body ' s ' defence response . i should be very interested to hear if there have been any other reports of similar situations . or if you know of anyone who could advise me .
i spend many weeks in tenerife on holiday where i try to warn as many people as i can of the dangers of this fish . even the locals do not mess with them although they are delicious !
puerto colon , near playa de las americas . it was high tide around midday . the
the back , just behind the head so that i could remove the hook . the fish then
tip of my right index finger , causing it to bleed slightly . there was a local
( spider fish ) . he told me to get to the clinic fast . stupidly , as it did not
for my wife , who i had arranged to meet in about ¾ of an hour . while waiting
clinic where i was put on a drip with three different bottles connected to it .
i believe i was given morphine , but it did not seem to do much . for the next
biting down to the bone . at one point at about 2 . 30 am . i seriously
so i tried to compare it to something . the nearest i could get was to imagine
providers on the level of pain this causes . my toe ( foot ) was
and hot - water treatment but by this time the pain was going off . my
tourist area and a busy tourist season . i would be pleased to know if
david thompson at shambles bank , weymouth dorset caught a specimen of 95 . 67 grams ( 3 oz 6 drm ) . accepted by the british record ( rod - caught ) fish committee , in october 2001 .
on wednesday we were netting the river hayle at low water for sandeel bait .
quite a few weevers . the unusual aspect was the large number of lice on
as we transferred the eel to the bucket the lice usually fell off . i
retained three and have pickled them in 70 % alcohol . they are 7 to 8 mm long .
this is the first time i have seen such a phenomenon in over 40 years angling .
i have taken * 10 and * 60 digital photos which may aid id .
runswick bay , n . yorks this summer . kayak angler who didn ' t know what he was grabbing and was stung . he became too delirious to paddle and had to be rescued by the local rescue boat . george monbiot says its great eating , but you have to have a club to hand and simply haul the thing onto your boat and beat it to death . . . .
of the same size , although by mid - june most of the brown shrimps would have died .
is captivity had a voracious appetite feeding on pieces of dead prawn , usually swallowing them whole . the fish would consume at least its own weight in prawns in one feeding every day .
a briton on holiday in majorca has died after apparently being bitten by a fish or sea snake while snorkelling .
jonathan wickings , 18 , was bitten while swimming during a catamaran trip from palma , the majorcan capital , according to eyewitnesses .
the teenager , from portsmouth , was pulled back on to the boat after his girlfriend raised the alarm .
he was taken by speedboat to a jetty at cala blava , where the boat had set anchor .
staff from a german - run medical centre tried to revive him with heart massage , but to no avail .
phil allan , from aberdeen , who was on the boat with the couple , said :
it was very distressing . his girlfriend was on the jetty with him , and when the doctors stopped the massage , she let out a howling wail . it was awful .
our boat , and another catamaran , were moored very close . about 100 people , including lots of women and children had to watch all this go on .
mr allan was critical of the boat ' s crew . he said :
there was no leadership at all , they didn ' t seem to know what to do .
he said that the moment the catamaran returned to palma , the same boat and crew set off for cala blava with more passengers .


the ornate cuscus or molluccan cuscus ( phalanger ornatus ) is a species of marsupial in the family phalangeridae .

it is endemic to indonesia , where it is found on the north maluku islands of halmahera , bacan and morotai , at elevations from sea level to 1000 m.

ornate cuscus

ornate cuscus ( english , paperback , lambert m . surhone , mariam t . tennoe , susan f . henssonow )
phalanger ornatus . the ornate cuscus is endemic . . . | animals | pinterest | animal , creatures and wild animals
nature picture library - ornate cuscus ( phalanger ornatus ) in the rainforest outside labilabi , halmahera , indonesia . endemic to north moluccas ( halmah . . .
the ornate cuscus is endemic to halmahera and a few offshore islands including morotai and bacan . like other phalangerids it is nocturnal and feeds primarily on fruit and leaves .
ornate cuscus ( phalanger ornatus ) in the rainforest outside labilabi , halmahera , indonesia . endemic to north moluccas ( halmahera , morotai , and batjan islands ) indonesia . this species was discovered by alfred russell wallace .
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thank you for taking the time to provide feedback on the iucn red list of threatened species website , we are grateful for your input .
populations from the islands of ternate and tidore are now assigned to phalanger matabiru .
justification : listed as least concern because , although its extent of occurrence is little more than 20 , 000 km 2 , it has a large population , is tolerant to some degree of habitat degradation , lacks major threats , and its populations are thought to be stable .
this species is restricted to the islands of halmahera , batjan , and morotai ( all indonesia ) . found from sea level to about 1 , 000 m asl .
it occurs in primary tropical moist forest , secondary forest , rural gardens , and other degraded habitats . it is an adaptable species .
there are no major threats to this species overall . it is threatened in some parts of its range by hunting ( populations in non - muslim areas ) .
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mammal species of the world : a taxonomic and geographic reference ( book , 2005 ) [ worldcat . org ]
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i thought you might be interested in this item at urltoken title : mammal species of the world : a taxonomic and geographic reference author : don e wilson ; deeann m reeder publisher : baltimore : johns hopkins university press , ©2005 . isbn / issn : 0801882214 9780801882210 0801882389 9780801882388 0801882397 9780801882395 oclc : 57557352
wilson and reeder ' s mammal species of the world is the classic reference book on the taxonomic classification and distribution of the more than 5400 species of mammals that exist today . the third edition includes detailed information on nomenclature and , for the first time , common names . each concise entry covers type locality , distribution , synonyms , and major reference sources . the systematic arrangement of
information indicates evolutionary relationships at both the ordinal and the family level . this indispensable reference work belongs in public and academic libraries throughout the world and on the shelf of every biologist who works with mammals .
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this indispensable reference work belongs in public and academic libraries throughout the world and on the shelf of every biologist who works with mammals .
a uniquely valuable compendium of taxonomic and distributional data on the world ' s living and historically extinct mammalian species . contributors and editors alike deserve the thanks of all
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wilson and reeder ' s mammal species of the world is the classic reference book on the taxonomic classification and distribution of the more than 5400 species of mammals that exist today . the third edition includes detailed information on nomenclature and , for the first time , common names . each concise entry covers type locality , distribution , synonyms , and major reference sources . the systematic arrangement of information indicates evolutionary relationships at both the ordinal and the family level . this indispensable reference work belongs in public and academic libraries throughout the world and on the shelf of every biologist who works with mammals .
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lobatus goliath , previously known as eustrombus goliath and strombus goliath , common name the goliath conch , is a species of very large edible sea snail , a marine gastropod mollusk in the family strombidae , the true conchs .

l. goliath is one of the largest mollusks of the western atlantic ocean , and also one of the largest species among the strombidae .

it was once considered endemic to brazil , but specimens have also been recently found in the waters of barbados .

brazilian common names for this species include búzio de chapéu or búzio ( in ceará state ) , and búzio de aba or buzo in ( bahia state ) .

l. goliath is considered closely related to the queen conch , lobatus gigas .

lobatus goliath

lobatus goliath ( schröter , 1805 ) ; brazil ; coll . gijs kronenberg no . 637
strombidae » lobatus goliath , id : 365091 , shell detail « shell encyclopedia , conchology , inc .
lobatus goliath ( schröter , 1805 ) ; fortaleza , ceara state , brazil ; 325 mm ; coll . gijs kronenberg no . 441
lobatus goliath , ( schröter , 1805 ) ; fortaleza , ceará , brazil ; 325 mm ; coll . gijs kronenberg no . 441
lobatus goliath ( schröter , 1805 ) ; operculum ; fortaleza , ceará , brazil ; 325 mm ; coll . gijs kronenberg no . 441
strombus goliath juvenile in duclos , 1844 , pl . 28 , fig . 4
lobatus goliath ( schröter , 1805 ) ; operculum ; fortaleza , ceara state , brazil ; 325 mm ; coll . gijs kronenberg no . 441
lobatus goliath ( schröter , 1805 ) ; natal , rio grande do norte , brazil ; dived ; 305 . 0 mm ; coll . chong chen
shell of : ( a ) vasum cassiforme ; ( b ) lobatus goliath , dorsal view ; ( c ) . . . | download scientific diagram
original designation of strombus goliath by schröter , 1805 , p . 138 / 139 :
strombus goliath in duclos , 1844 , pl . 30 , fig . 1 , 2
strombus goliath in reeve , 1850 , strombus , pl . 1 , fig . 1
lobatus vokesae landau , kronenberg & herbert , 2008 ; 310 mm ; coll . gijs kronenberg
lobatus gallus ( linnaeus , 1758 ) ; brazil ; 141 mm ; coll . chong chen
swainson , 1837 lobatus . retrieved through : world register of marine species on 5 december 2012 .
lobatus gigas , commonly known as the queen conch , is a species of large edible sea snail , a marine gastropod mollusc in the family of true conches , the strombidae . this species is one of the largest molluscs native to the tropical northwestern atlantic , from bermuda to brazil , reaching up to 35 . 2 centimetres ( 13 . 9 in ) in shell length . l . gigas is closely related to the goliath conch , lobatus goliath , a species endemic to brazil , as well as the rooster conch , lobatus gallus .
lobatus peruvianus ( swainson , 1823 ) ; panama , central america ; coll . gijs kronenberg no . 702
are we missing a good definition for lobatus gigas ? don ' t keep it to yourself . . .
s . 456 . wird nach num . 14 . eingeschaltet : lister hist . conchyl . tab . 862 . fig . 18 . a . chemnitz conchyl . th . xi . tab . 195 . b . fig . a . der goliath strombus goliath .
lobatus raninus ( gmelin , 1791 ) ; florida , usa ; 73 , 6 mm ; coll . chong chen
however , according to simone , only
strombus gracilior
,
strombus alatus
and
strombus pugilis
, the type species , remained within
strombus
, as they constituted a distinct group based on at least five synapomorphies ( traits that are shared by two or more taxa and their most recent common ancestor ) . ) , in this case , included
eustrombus gigas
( now considered a synonym of
lobatus gigas
) and
eustrombus goliath
( =
lobatus goliath
) , which were thus considered closely related .
lobatus haitensis ( sowerby , 1850 ) ; gurabo formation , miocene ; dominican republic ; coll . gijs kronenberg no . 6343
lobatus gigas ( linnaeus , 1758 ) ; content key , monroe county , florida , usa ; coll . gijs kronenberg no . 328
ulrich wieneke ( ed . ) lobatus gigas . in : gastropoda stromboidea . modified : 22 november 2008 . retrieved 23 june 2009 .
with the exception of lambis and terebellum , the remaining taxa were previously allocated in the genus strombus , including l . gigas . however , according to simone , only strombus gracilior , strombus alatus and strombus pugilis , the type species , remained within strombus , as they constituted a distinct group based on at least five synapomorphies ( traits that are shared by two or more taxa and their most recent common ancestor ) . [ 16 ] the remaining taxa were previously considered subgenera and were elevated to genus level by simone . genus eustrombus ( now considered a synonym of lobatus [ 20 ] ) , in this case , included eustrombus gigas ( now considered a synonym of lobatus gigas ) and eustrombus goliath ( = lobatus goliath ) , which were thus considered closely related . [ 16 ]
lobatus peruvianus ( swainson , 1823 ) ; pedro gonzales island , pearl archipelago , west coast of panama ; coll . gijs kronenberg no . 7
lobatus haitensis ( sowerby , 1850 ) ; gurabo formation , late miocene / early pliocene ; dominican republic ; coll . gijs kronenberg no . 6343
lobatus williamsi ( olsson & petit , 1964 ) ; late pliocene ; lee county , florida , usa ; coll . gijs kronenberg no . 6335
however , according to simone , only
strombus gracilior
,
strombus alatus
and
strombus pugilis
, the type species , remained within
strombus
, as they constituted a distinct group based on at least five synapomorphies ( traits that are shared by two or more taxa and their most recent common ancestor ) . ) , in this case , included
eustrombus gigas
( now considered a synonym of
lobatus gigas
) and
eustrombus goliath
( =
l . goliath
) , which were thus considered closely related .
2011 b : kronenberg , g . c . : lobatus gigas ( linnaeus , 1758 ) ( gastropoda , strombidae ) in shark bay ?  spirula 379 : 37 .
' ' lobatus peruvianus ' , ( swainson , 1823 ) ' ; baja california peninsula , mexico ; trawled at 10 - 15 m ; coll . gijs kronenberg no . 6341
lobatus dominator ( pilsbry & johnson , 1917 ) ; gurabo formation , early pliocene ; canada de zamba , rio cana , dominican republic ; 1 / 2014 ; coll . gijs kronenberg
the spire ( a protruding part of the shell which includes all of the whorls with the exception of the largest and final whorl , known as the body whorl ) is usually higher ( more elongated ) in this species than it is in the shells of other strombid snails , such as the closely related and even larger goliath conch , lobatus goliath , a species endemic to brazil . in lobatus gigas , the glossy finish or glaze around the aperture of the adult shell is colored primarily in shades of pink . this pink glaze is usually pale , and may show a cream , peach or yellow colouration , but it can also sometimes be tinged with a deep magenta , shading almost to red . the periostracum , a layer of protein ( conchiolin ) which is the outermost part of the shell surface , is thin and a pale brown or tan colour in this species .
strombidae ' s taxonomy was extensively revised in the 2000s and a few recombined this species as
eustrombus gigas
, and landau and collaborators ( 2008 ) recombined it as
lobatus gigas
.
2013 a : kronenberg , g . c . : first occurrence of putative hybridization in the genus lobatus ( caenogastropda : strombidae ) .  the nautilus 127 ( 1 ) : 36 - 39 .
2013 c : kronenberg g . c . : a specimen of lobatus gigas ( caenogastropoda : strombidae ) with an abnormal eye .  basteria 77 ( 4 - 6 ) : 41 - 44 .
four subadult shells of lobatus gigas from nevis , all having been fished and showing the cut in the spire . this cut is used to sever the columellar muscle allowing the soft parts to slide out . [ 64 ]
the spire is a protruding part of the shell that includes all of the whorls except the largest and final whorl ( known as the body whorl ) . it is usually more elongated than in other strombid snails , such as the closely related and larger goliath conch , lobatus goliath that is endemic to brazil . [ 14 ] in l . gigas , the glossy finish or glaze around the aperture of the adult shell is primarily in pale shades of pink . it may show a cream , peach or yellow colouration , but it can also sometimes be tinged with a deep magenta , shading almost to red . the periostracum , a layer of protein ( conchiolin ) that is the outermost part of the shell surface , is thin and a pale brown or tan colour . [ 28 ] [ 30 ] [ 31 ]
six species live in the greater caribbean region , including the queen conch ,
strombus gigas
( now usually known as
eustrombus gigas
or
lobatus gigas
) , and the west indian fighting conch ,
strombus pugilis
.
a drawing of an adult male lobatus gigas ( from duclos in chenu , 1844 ) showing the external soft parts including the spade - shaped penis on the left . separate details show the mouth , the distal portion of the penis , and both sides of the claw - like operculum
2008b : : landau , b . , kronenberg , g . c . & herbert , g . : a large new species of lobatus ( gastropoda : strombidae ) from the neogene of the dominican republic , with notes on the genus .  the veliger 50 ( 1 ) : 31 - 38 .
in a different approach , latiolais and colleagues ( 2006 ) proposed another cladogram that attempts to show the phylogenetic relationships of 34 species within the family strombidae . the authors analysed 31 strombus species , including lobatus gigas ( there referred to as strombus gigas ) , and three species in the allied genus lambis . the cladogram was based on dna sequences of both nuclear histone h3 and mitochondrial cytochrome - c oxidase i ( coi ) protein - coding gene regions . in this proposed phylogeny , strombus gigas and strombus gallus ( = lobatus gallus ) are closely related and appear to share a common ancestor . [ 17 ]
2010 : landau b . m . , kronenberg , g . c . , & da silva , c . m . a new species of lobatus ( mollusca : caenogastropoda : strombidae ) from the neogene of the dominican republic , with notes on further species from the dominican assemblages .  basteria 74 ( 4 - 6 ) : 95 - 109 .
strombidae ' s taxonomy was extensively revised in the 2000s and a few subgenera , including eustrombus , were elevated to genus level by some authors . [ 16 ] [ 17 ] [ 18 ] petuch [ 3 ] and petuch and roberts [ 19 ] recombined this species as eustrombus gigas , and landau and collaborators ( 2008 ) recombined it as lobatus gigas . [ 18 ]
strombidae , or the conchs are one of the more familiar of the molluscan groups . though many larger molluscan species are commonly referred to as conchs , the strombs or generically , strombus are the true conch shells . the number of species in the family numbers around 60 species , which is small in comparison with other molluscan families . yet the size difference between the largest and smallest strombus species is huge . a few grow to be the largest and heaviest of the marine mollusks such as eustrombus goliath
it lives in or near fast - flowing rivers and streams in rainforest , preferring warmer , slower rivers than conraua robusta , though faster rivers than c . crassipes . it can survive in secondary habitats close to rivers , as well as in forest , but not in very heavily degraded areas ( farm bush ) . breeding occurs in streams and small rivers . the young rest by flowing water during the day . around nkongsamba in western cameroon , c . goliath , c . crassipes and c . robusta occur sympatrically .
many details about the anatomy of lobatus gigas were not well known until colin little ' s 1965 general study . [ 38 ] in 2005 , r . l . simone gave a detailed anatomical description . [ 16 ] l . gigas has a long extensible nephiridial gland , the pericardium , the genital glands , stomach , style sac and the digestive gland . in adult males , the penis is also visible . [ 38 ]
figure 3 . shell of : ( a ) vasum cassiforme ; ( b ) lobatus goliath , dorsal view ; ( c ) siratus senegalensis ( syntype , mnhn - im - 2000 - 21867 , from west africa ; shell height = 59 mm ) ; ( d ) voluta ebraea ( nmr 57653 , from recife , pernambuco state , brazil ; shell height = 190 mm ) ; ( e ) morum matthewsi ( holotype , amnh - iz - 129201 , from brazil ) ; ( f ) agaronia travassosi ( holotype , mzsp 14104 , from são sebastião island , são paulo state , brazil ; shell height = 42 mm ) ; ( g ) cochlespira elongata ( holotype , mzsp 28110 , from ubatuba , são paulo state , brazil ; shell height = 17 mm ) ; ( h ) charonia variegata ( photo by merlincharon , extracted and modified from wikimedia commons ) ; ( i ) siratus beauii ( from barbados ; photo by bathymetrix , extracted and modified from wikimedia commons ) .
lobatus gigas - anatomy - shell description - historic illustrations . . . niccolò gualtieri ) contains three illustrations showing the morphology of adult queen conch shells from different perspectives . . . the shells are shown as if balancing on the edge of the lip and / or the apex this was presumably done for artistic reasons as these shells cannot be balanced like this . . . considered as one of the most prized and sumptuous shell publications of the 19th century , a series of books titled illustrations conchyliologiques ou description et figures de toutes les coquilles connues . . .
strombid gastropods were widely accepted as carnivores by several authors in the 19th century , a concept that persisted until the first half of the 20th century . this erroneous idea originated in the writings of jean - baptiste lamarck , who classified strombids with other supposedly carnivorous snails . this idea was subsequently repeated by other authors , but were not supported by observation . subsequent studies have refuted the concept , proving beyond doubt that strombid gastropods are herbivorous animals . [ 58 ] in common with other strombidae , [ 17 ] lobatus gigas is a specialized herbivore , [ 28 ] that feeds on macroalgae ( including red algae , such as species of gracilaria and hypnea ) , [ 36 ] seagrass [ 55 ] and unicellular algae , intermittently also feeding on algal detritus . [ 58 ] [ 59 ] the green macroalgae batophora oerstedii is one of its preferred foods . [ 31 ]
lobatus gigas lives at depths from 0 . 3–18 m [ 31 ] to 25–35 m . [ 29 ] [ 49 ] its depth range is limited by the distribution of seagrass and algae cover . in heavily exploited areas , the queen conch is more abundant in the deepest range . [ 49 ] the queen conch lives in seagrass meadows and on sandy substrate , [ 45 ] usually in association with turtle grass ( species of the genus thalassia , specifically thalassia testudinum [ 34 ] and also syringodium sp . ) [ 32 ] and manatee grass ( cymodocea sp . ) . [ 55 ] juveniles inhabit shallow , inshore seagrass meadows , while adults favor deeper algal plains and seagrass meadows . [ 31 ] [ 56 ] the critical nursery habitats for juvenile individuals are defined by a series of characteristics , including tidal circulation and macroalgal production , which together enable high rates of recruitment and survival . [ 57 ] l . gigas is typically found in distinct aggregates that may contain several thousand individuals . [ 33 ]
lobatus gigas is gonochoristic , which means each individual snail is either distinctly male or distinctly female . [ 26 ] females are usually larger than males in natural populations , with both sexes existing in similar proportion . [ 45 ] after internal fertilization , [ 33 ] the females lay eggs in gelatinous strings , which can be as long as 75 feet ( 23 m ) . [ 31 ] these are layered on patches of bare sand or seagrass . the sticky surface of these long egg strings allows them to coil and agglutinate , mixing with the surrounding sand to form compact egg masses , the shape of which is defined by the anterior portion of the outer lip of the female ' s shell while they are layered . [ 33 ] [ 46 ] each one of the egg masses may have been fertilized by multiple males . [ 46 ] the number of eggs per egg mass varies greatly depending on environmental conditions such as food availability and temperature . [ 33 ] [ 46 ] commonly , females produce 8–9 egg masses per season , [ 26 ] [ 47 ] each containing 180 , 000–460 , 000 eggs , [ 31 ] but numbers can be as high as 750 , 000 eggs . [ 33 ] l . gigas females may spawn multiple times during the reproductive season , [ 31 ] which lasts from march to october , with activity peaks occurring from july to september . [ 26 ]
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. the largest recorded shell is around 380 millimeters . at the other end of the size spectrum is
, a species that rarely reaching 25 millimeters in length . a comprehensive display of strombs are quite beautiful . some of the species can vary considerably in color and make for an
the majority of ' strombus ' species are distributed throughout the indo - pacific , with a handful of species found in the west indies and from the mediterranean down through west africa . generally ' strombs ' live mostly in sand and seagrass environments from intertidal to subtidal depths in the tropics . the strong foot and sickle - shape operculum of the animal allow both small and large strombs to dig quickly and deeply into sandy substrates for protection and during periods of shell growth . adult eustrombus gigas , the queen conch , feed mainly on minute algae , as do most other species of strombs . as larvae , strombs feed on plankton . the larger species of ' strombs ' are themselves harvested as a popular and exploited food source in the shallow waters of the tropics . due to over - harvesting , eustrombus gigas is protected in florida . the aquaculture community has expended great efforts in raising the queen conch to avert the extinction of dwindling populations of the species .
the family strombidae has in recent years undergone a major taxonomic revision . numerous neatly organized subgenera for the various species within the genus strombus have been raised to full genera , and new genera have been errected for species that did not clearly fit within the classic arrangement . the most significant taxonomic change within the family strombidae is that the spindly tibia have been reclassified in the family rostellariidae based on anatomy and shell morphology . the conchological community has been slow to adopt this new classification . the various ' strombus ' species are arranged here according to the revised nomenclature .
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taxonomic ref . : ponder & lindberg . 1997 . towards a phylogeny of gastropod molluscs ; an analysis using morphological characters . zoological journal of the linnean society , 119 83 - 265 .
dillwyn , 1817 - philippines , 27 - 36mm - found in a rainbow of varied colors and patterns .
dillwyn , 1817 - philippines , 28mm - a striking solid orange color form .
dillwyn , 1817 - tulear , madagascar , 47mm - at 47mm , this specimen is considered well above average in size .
sowerby , 1842 - mozambique , 29 - 34mm - intertidal sand dweller found in the western indian ocean & red sea .
sowerby , 1842 - marshall islands , 15 - 17mm - found scuba diving among sand and rubble . the species has an interesting red operculum with a serrated edge .
kiener , 1843 - hawaii , 19mm - an unusual orange color form . this species is the smallest of the genus .
duclos , 1844 - mozambique , 39mm - the geographical range of this subspecies is the indian ocean from east africa to vietnam . it can be found in relatively shallow water . the illustrated shell represents a very shouldered form .
swainson , 1821 - madagascar , 23mm - the color and patterns of this species varies considerably throughout its indo - pacific range , as well as within individual populations as illustrated here .
linné , 1758 - philippines - the shell is found in a array of color forms . in nature the shell is often covered with a thick periostracum and organic growth that masks the color . lip color can be white or black , though the lighter colored shells tend to have a white lip .
linné , 1758 - philippines - black color form . the species is quite variable with a number of subspecific names applied to geographical forms .
wood , 1828 - vanuatu , 18 - 20mm - dwarf adult specimens . the subspecies is restricted to a portion of melanesia .
sowerby , 1842 - madagascar , 32 - 33mm - one of many forms widely varying forms found throughout the range of the species from the eastern mediterranean through the indian ocean . the form coniformis is found from mauritius through east africa .
duclos , 1844 - philippines , 39mm - this form is limited to the southern pacific . it is differentiated from typical d . dilatatus by the shorter canal at the aperture .
( reeve , 1850 ) , - vietnam , 65 - 67mm - a form limited to the indian ocean . taken in trawl nets of a commercial fishing boat .
( swainson , 1821 ) - philippines , 31mm - distributed through the western pacific , but not found in the indian ocean , where the nominate form is found .
( röding , 1798 ) - australia , 65mm - as with many species of the genus , this is an intertidal dweller .
pilsbry , 1917 - hawaii , 92mm - a fresh dead collected specimen . the subspecies is very rare in this size and condition , and is endemic to the hawaiian islands .
pilsbry , 1917 - hawaii , 65 . 7mm - also dead taken . the lip is immature , but rarely seen this dark and beautiful . the species is a sand dweller .
( linné , 1758 ) - mahe island , seychelles , 57 . 3mm - the nominate form of gibberulus gibberulus [ synonym : strombus gibberulus ] .
mörch , 1850 - saudi arabia , 43mm - a pale form . [ synonym : strombus gibberulus albus ]
röding , 1798 - coral sea , 40 - 46mm - these specimens were taken near east diamond island , way out in the middle of nowhere ! a geographical morph with a dark band below the suture line on the body whorl is more typical at this location ( middle specimen ) , though a wider range of coral sea color forms is illustrated here . [ synonym : strombus gibberulus gibbosus ]
mörch , 1852 , pterocera anton , 1839 ( non lamarck , 1799 ) ; subgenus : millepes mörch , 1852 .
linné , 1758 - philippines , 121 - 132mm - dwarf adult specimens of a species that typically grows to over 200mm in length . the depth of aperture color and pattern on the dorsum varies considerably .
( linné , 1758 ) - mellish reef , coral sea , 76mm - a pure white color form . taken scuba diving in ±35 feet of water on sand , during a night dive .
( röding , 1798 ) - davao , philippines , 97 . 2mm - an extremely large specimen for the species . closely related to l . canarium .
röding , 1798 , pterocera lamarck , 1799 , pteroceras link , 1807 ( err . ) , pteroceres montfort , 1810 ( err . ) , digitator fabricius , 1823 ( nom . nud . ) , pterocerus brongniart , 1829 ( err . ) , heptadactylus mörch , 1852 .
( link , 1807 ) - philippines , 128mm - the nominate form of the species . digits are proportionately shorter than the localized form l . c . pilsbryi .
abbott , 1961 - marquesas , 254mm - a huge specimen , 4 . 2mm smaller than the largest recorded size for the species . the subspecies is limited to french polynesia .
( linné , 1758 ) - philippines , 129 - 137mm - the illustrated specimens exhibit extremely dark coloration .
( swainson , 1821 ) - tahiti , 131mm - endemic to polynesia . the dark - tipped digits are characteristic of this uncommon species .
( born , 1778 ) - madagascar , 39 - 40mm - species is limited to the western indian ocean and the rea sea ; forms from the latter location have been described as subspecific . knobby and smooth - shouldered forms are found throughout its range .
( roding , 1798 ) - davao , philippines , 52mm - orange color form .
iredale , 1921 ; aliger thiele , 1929 ; eustrombus wenz , 1940 . .
( linné , 1758 ) - cabo rojo , puerto rico . the famed rooster tail conch is found in a variety of colors ; this specimen has shades of pink . [ synonym : strombus gallus ]
( gmelin , 1791 ) - aguadilla , puerto rico - 77mm . a gerontic specimen with a blackened lip . strombs found along the west coast of puerto rico seem to be prone to this type of discoloration . [ synonym : strombus raninus ]
( gray , 1852 ) - andaman sea , 109mm - once considered one of the rarest shells , now it is commonly trawled off the coast of thailand and burma ( myanmar ) , a by - product of commercial fishing boats . m . listeri is the only species in the genus .
( linné , 1758 ) - philippines , 163mm - grows to over 200mm . the shell is heavy with a thick calcareous shell .
( emerson , 1965 ) - somalia , 95mm - a dead taken specimen . live specimens rarely surface in trawling nets .
( emerson , 1965 ) - somalia , 101 . 7mm - a beautiful shell with mature , fully developed wing .
, or cap shell attached to the body whorl , which when removed leaves an crater - like indentation in the shell .
strombus linné , 1758 ; vaught , 1989 : 31 ; le renard , 1996 : 41 , strombella schlüter , 1838 , conomurex fischer p . , 1884 ex bayle ms , strombus ( conomurex ) ; vaught , 1989 : 31 .
gmelin , 1791 - florida keys , 87 - 100mm - a relatively large and variably colored species . it is common throughout its range .
gmelin , 1791 - florida keys , 81 - 88mm - two distinct color forms from the same locale .
linné , 1758 - florida keys , 89mm - typical specimens have longer spines on the spire than does strombus alatus .
: kronenberg , g . c . & g . j . vermeij . terestrombus and tridentarius , new genera of indo - pacific strombidae ( gastropoda ) , with comments on included taxa and on shell characters in strombidae . vita malacologica ( 1 ) 49 - 54 .
( röding , 1798 ) - philippines , 30 - 40mm - the thin , shiny shell is characteristic of this species . do not confuse with
sowerby ii , 1842 - philippines , 36 - 41mm - typical form with taller spire .
( sowerby , 1842 ) - philippines , 34mm - an unusual solid orange color form .
( lightfoot , 1786 ) - somalia , 114 . 5mm - the coloring varies widely ; this specimen has an unusual dark striped pattern on the back . [ synonym : strombus tricornis ]
( lightfoot , 1786 ) - somalia , 128 . 7mm - a specimen with an extremely dark dorsum coloring . typically the species exhibits a much lighter color .
( linné , 1758 ) - solomon islands , 32mm - the type species of the genus . the color - pattern of the body whorl varies .
strombidae on this page click name to view image - click » to view caption below .
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one of the most intriguing patterns in mammalian biogeography is the “island rule” , which states that colonising species have a tendency to converge in body size , with larger species evolving decreased sizes and smaller species increased sizes . it has recently been suggested that an analogous pattern holds for the colonisation of the deep - sea benthos by marine gastropoda . in particular , a pioneering study showed that gastropods from the western atlantic showed the same graded trend from dwarfism to gigantism that is evident in island endemic mammals . however , subsequent to the publication of the gastropod study , the standard tests of the island rule have been shown to yield false positives at a very high rate , leaving the result open to doubt .
the evolution of gastropod body size in the deep sea is reexamined . using an extended and updated data set , and improved statistical methods , it is shown that some results of the previous study may have been artifactual , but that its central conclusion is robust . it is further shown that the effect is not restricted to a single gastropod clade , that its strength increases markedly with depth , but that it applies even in the mesopelagic zone .
the replication of the island rule in a distant taxonomic group and a partially analogous ecological situation could help to uncover the causes of the patterns observed—which are currently much disputed . the gastropod pattern is evident at intermediate depths , and so cannot be attributed to the unique features of abyssal ecology .
citation : welch jj ( 2010 ) the “island rule” and deep - sea gastropods : re - examining the evidence . plos one 5 ( 1 ) : e8776 . urltoken
copyright : © 2010 john j . welch . this is an open - access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution license , which permits unrestricted use , distribution , and reproduction in any medium , provided the original author and source are credited .
funding : some preliminary work undertaken when jw was funded by bbsrc grant do17750 awarded to andrew rambaut . the funders had no role in study design , data collection and analysis , decision to publish , or preparation of the manuscript .
the island rule states that after island colonisation , animals undergo predictable patterns of body size evolution , with larger colonising species becoming smaller , and smaller species becoming larger . the result is a graded trend from dwarfism in the largest colonists to gigantism in the smallest [ 1 ] – [ 4 ] . because insular habitats are distinctive in a number of ways , this pattern might be variously explained , and a variety of hypotheses have indeed been proposed in the literature [ 1 ] – [ 11 ] . recently , mcclain et al . [ 12 ] made an important advance by testing for analogous patterns of body size evolution in a non - insular system . specifically , they compared body sizes of animals living in deep - sea benthic habitats with their shallow - water living congeners . using the malacolog database version 3 . 3 . 3 of rosenberg [ 13 ] , mcclain et al . [ 12 ] took the gastropods of the western atlantic as a case study , and reported that a highly significant trend from dwarfism to gigantism was evident in the deep - sea species .
here , i re - examine whether deep - sea gastropods manifest the island rule , making use of the improved statistical methods , and data collated from the recently updated malacolog database [ 24 ] , which has been both expanded , and revised to reflect advances in gastropod systematics [ 25 ] . it is found that the central conclusion of mcclain et al . [ 12 ] is robust , and that gastropod colonists of the deep - sea benthos do indeed exhibit island - rule - like evolution .
to analyse the data , the deep - sea body sizes for each genus were regressed onto the shallow - water body sizes . under the null hypothesis of no effect of deep - sea colonization , these two values should be equal on average , and so the best - fit line should have a slope of one . a shallower slope is consistent with the island rule , and represents a narrowing of the distribution of body sizes in the deep - sea species [ 3 ] . to obtain the best - fit slope , standardized - major - axis regression was used [ 21 ] , [ 28 ] . the test statistic for this type of regression is the correlation coefficient between x + y and x − y ( where x is the shallow - water body size and y is the deep - sea body size ) . significance was assessed by randomly permuting the labels for the deep and shallow species within each genus 100 , 000 times , to generate a null distribution of the test statistic . the p - value was calculated as the proportion of these randomized coefficients that were equal to or more extreme in value than the true test statistic , doubled for a two - tailed test [ 20 ] . to replicate the method of [ 12 ] , an ordinary - least - squares regression was also carried out , calculating significance with the standard t - test [ 28 ] . all statistical tests were carried out in r [ 29 ] , and made use of the smatr package [ 23 ] , including its common slope test ( “ urltoken ” ) , which compares the fit of a one - and two - slope model to the subdivided data . all code is available on request .
to demonstrate the liberal nature of the standard tests of the island rule , consider results when deep - sea habitation is defined via the midpoint of the recorded depth range , i . e . , “deep - sea species” have a range midpoint below 200m , and all other species are deemed “shallow - water” . with this definition , 254 genera contained both deep and shallow species , and their generic mean body sizes are plotted in figure 1a . applying the standard test [ 3 ] , [ 12 ] , the ordinary - least - squares regression slope ( dashed line ) is found to be highly significantly less than one ( n = 254 ; b = 0 . 902 ; t - test p = 0 . 0015 ) , which offers strong apparent support for the island rule . however , assigning species groups to the “deep” or “shallow” categories at random , showed that even stronger support was obtained with ∼43 % of 100 , 000 randomized data sets , suggesting that there is nothing exceptional in the trend observed in the true data . accordingly , the standardized - major - axis slope ( solid line ) was very close to one , and the permutation test showed no significant deviation from the pattern expected if deep - sea colonization had no effect on body size evolution ( n = 254 ; b = 1 . 020 ; permutation p = 0 . 476 ) .
part a shows how different tests of the ‘island rule’ can give qualitatively different results . “deep - sea” species were defined as those with a depth range midpoint > 200m , and all other species defined as “shallow - water” . the ordinary - least - squares regression ( dashed line ) differs significantly from the 1∶1 line of the null ( dotted line ) , but the standardized - major - axis regression ( solid line ) shows no significant departure . part b shows a less ambiguous case : “deep - sea” species are those never observed above 400m , and “shallow - water” species those never observed below 200m ; body sizes are within - genus means , taking equal numbers of deep - and shallow - water species in each genus .
averaging across species has untested statistical properties [ 30 ] , but it does have the advantage of reducing noise and the influence of anomalous data . for example , figure 1b plots results for balanced samples with “deep - sea” defined as > 400m . these data are clearly noisy , and the slope is strongly influenced by a single outlier ( the largest value on both axes ) . this point represents the genus fasciolaria , which contains just a single deep - sea species , the recently discovered fasciolaria tephrina [ 32 ] . to restrict the influence of such isolated observations , mcclain et al . [ 12 ] excluded from their analyses all genera with fewer than two shallow and two deep species . despite reducing sample size by ∼2 / 3 , this procedure strengthens the observed effect , with a highly significant departure from the null now apparent at the shallowest cutoff depth ( table 1 part b ; figure 2 ) .
the body sizes of deep - sea gastropods are plotted against those of their shallow - water congeners . “shallow - water” species were never observed below 200m , and “deep - sea” species never observed above depths of a : 200m , b : 400m and c : 600m . separate standardized - major - axis regression lines are shown for the neogastropoda ( black points ) and all other groups ( grey points ) . the dotted line is the 1∶1 expected under the null . genera with fewer than two deep and two shallow species were excluded .
these results demonstrate the island rule pattern , but they do not tell us whether it represents a consistent trend across the marine gastropoda ; indeed , the same pattern could arise from clade - specific responses to deep - sea colonization , which are associated with large and small size merely by chance [ 19 ] . phylogenetic tests of this hypothesis were recently introduced [ 19 ] , but these are difficult to apply to gastropoda , where much of the phylogeny remains unknown [ 25 ] , and in any case , can be highly conservative [ 20 ] . an ad hoc alternative is to test for the consistency of the effect across taxonomic groups . the well - supported clade neogastropoda ( unranked by [ 25 ] ) is represented by around half of the genera in the present data set , and also contains most of the larger - bodied genera . figure 2 demonstrates that the regression slopes for this clade alone are very close to those for the remainder of the data , and do not differ significantly at any depth [ common slope tests : a p = 0 . 969 ; b p = 0 . 935 ; c p = 0 . 971 ] . furthermore , evidence for the island rule is similarly strong in both halves of the data [ permutation tests : a neogastropoda : n = 28 p = 0 . 049 , others : n = 26 p = 0 . 022 ; b neogastropoda n = 17 p = 0 . 048 , others n = 25 p = 0 . 069 ] . these tests lack power , but are at least consistent with an effect that applies homogenously across the group .
this study has confirmed the important findings of mcclain et al . [ 12 ] that the marine gastropods of the western atlantic show a pattern of body size evolution that is analogous to the island rule , with colonists of the deep - sea benthos tending to converge in size in a graded trend ( see also [ 16 ] ) . no evidence was found of phylogenetic heterogeneity in the strength of the observed effect , as results for the neogastropoda alone were indistinguishable from those for the remaining taxa . in contrast , the strength of the effect did increase systematically with range depth , with deeper - sea species showing a stronger tendency to converge in size . nevertheless , the effect is still apparent in species inhabiting the mesopelagic zone ( 200–1000m ) , and so cannot be attributed to unique features of abyssal ecology .
since the pattern was first identified [ 1 ] – [ 3 ] the island rule has been explained in a large number of ways [ 1 ] – [ 11 ] . a powerful method of distinguishing between the competing explanations is to test for the presence of analogous patterns in systems that share some , but not all of the ecological characteristics of island habitats [ 4 ] , [ 12 ] , [ 34 ] . for example , one putative contributor to the vertebrate pattern is “immigrant selection” , that is , between - lineage differences in the probability of reaching isolated islands , as opposed to differences in survival after colonisation [ 4 ] , [ 35 ] , [ 36 ] . the colonization of the deep - sea benthos differs clearly and qualitatively from the colonization of islands , and so if it is assumed that the similar patterns of body size evolution reflect a similarity of underlying cause [ 12 ] , this argues against immigrant selection as a key determinant of the graded trend that is observed in both cases .
similarly , predator release is a particularly plausible explanation of the vertebrate island rule [ 1 ] , [ 4 ] , [ 6 ] , [ 11 ] ; this is partly because it can naturally account for both dwarfism and gigantism ( by assuming that large and small body sizes evolve as alternative strategies for predator avoidance ) , and partly because predator release is so clearly implicated in other unusual characteristics of island endemics ( such as tameness ) [ 37 ] , [ 38 ] . but there is little evidence that reduced predation characterises the deep - sea [ 12 ] , [ 14 ] , and indeed there is direct evidence of substantial predation acting on deep - sea gastropods [ 12 ] , [ 39 ] – [ 41 ] . the gastropod results therefore argue against the predator release hypothesis as a general explanation of the island rule [ 12 ] .
we are therefore still far from understanding the causes of the patterns observed – and particularly the roles of inter - and intra - specific competition [ 3 ] , [ 4 ] , [ 11 ] , [ 12 ] . a detailed clarification of where the pattern does and does not hold will be an important step toward achieving this goal [ 4 ] , [ 12 ] , [ 19 ] , [ 20 ] .
many thanks are due to andrew rambaut for providing a script to mine the malacolog database . many thanks also to lucy weinert , nicolas bierne , gary rosenberg , shai meiri . simon joly and an anonymous reviewer , who all greatly improved the manuscript with their comments and advice .
conceived and designed the experiments : jw . performed the experiments : jw . analyzed the data : jw . wrote the paper : jw .
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berichtigungen für meine einleitung in die conchylienkenntniss nach linné . zwente fortsetzung archiv für zoologie und zootomie 4 ( 2 ) 137 - 160 .
liverani v . ( 2014 ) the superfamily stromboidea . addenda and corrigenda . in : g . t . poppe , k . groh & c . renker ( eds ) , a conchological iconography . pp . 1 - 54 , pls 131 - 164 . harxheim : conchbooks . [ details ]
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lamy , d . & pointier , j . - p . , 2018 . marine and freshwater molluscs of the french caribbean vol . i - ii ; plb éditions , gosier , guadeloupe , 785 pp . , 253 pls .
schröter , j . s . 1805 . berichtigungen für meine einleitung in die conchylienkenntniss nach linné . zweyte fortsetzung : archiv für zoologie und zootomie 4 ( 2 ) 137 - 160 . link
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shell gallery view « shell encyclopedia , conchology , inc . » conchological megadatabase on mollusks
the star system calculates the number of pieces that were handled by conchology , inc . in the last 15 years :
we want to point out that the star system is only very reliable for philippine shells only , as we handle very few foreign shells in general . as time goes , the system will become more and more performant .
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brazil . receife . trawled off sand by fishermen . ex - coll . d . and m . meyer . february 1990 .
very nice collectors quality . postage is extra on this heavy item , therefore very cheap .
© 1996 - 2018 guido t . poppe & philippe poppe - conchology , inc . ( 0 . 002 seconds . )