Photo of the day (79): Syrinx aruanus

Syrinx aruanus is a species of extant gastropod with the largest shell. The height of the shell can be up 72.2 cm. The largest specimen is stored in the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The volume of the animal is also very large. It is thought to be more voluminous than the largest extinct snail Campanile giganteum.

Syrinx aruanus is a marine sea snail and it belong to the family Turbinellidae.

I thank Jan Linhart, who has taken the photo of the shell in the Phuket Sea shell Museum, Thailand. I do not know exact measurements of this shell.

Shell of Syrinx aruanus in the Phuket Sea shell Museum. Photo by Jan Linhart, http://www.linhartmarketing.cz/, CC-BY-4.0.

Specimen of the shell height 91 cm was previously reported in the literature, but the reported size was wrong.

It may be also the heaviest extant snail (reaching up to 18 kg?), but I found no proper reference.

What are the limits of gastropods?

References

McClain C. R., Balk M. A., Benfield M. C., Branch T. A, Chen C., Cosgrove J., Dove A. D. M., Gaskins L. C., Helm R. R., Hochberg F. G., Lee F. B., Marshall A., McMurray S. E., Schanche C., Stone S. N. & Thaler A. D. 2015: Sizing ocean giants: patterns of intraspecific size variation in marine megafauna. – PeerJ 3:e715.  DOI: 10.7717/peerj.715.

Taylor J. D. & Glover E. A. 2003: Food of giants – field observations on the diet of
Syrinx aruanus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Turbinellidae) the largest living gastropod. pp. 217-223. – In: Wells F. E., Walker D. I. & Jones D. S. (eds) 2003: The Marine Flora and Fauna of Dampier, Western Australia. Western Australian Museum, Perth.

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Gastropods in Phuket Sea shell Museum

Phuket Sea shell Museum is located at the south of the Phuket Island in Thailand.

I thank to Jan Linhart who has taken these photos of shells in the Phuket Sea shell Museum.

Collection of shells of sea snails from the family Haliotidae:

Shells of Haliotidae. Photo by Jan Linhart, http://www.linhartmarketing.cz/, CC-BY-4.0.

Collection of shells of sea snails from the family Costellariidae:

Shells of Costellariidae. Photo by Jan Linhart, http://www.linhartmarketing.cz/, CC-BY-4.0.

Collection of shells of sea snails from the family Terebridae:

Shells of Terebridae. Photo by Jan Linhart, http://www.linhartmarketing.cz/, CC-BY-4.0.

Stages of growth of the Charonia tritonis from the family Ranellidae:

Stages of growth of the Charonia tritonis. Photo by Jan Linhart, http://www.linhartmarketing.cz/, CC-BY-4.0.

Stages of growth of the Turbinella pyrum from the family Turbinellidae:

Stages of growth of the Turbinella pyrum. Photo by Jan Linhart, http://www.linhartmarketing.cz/, CC-BY-4.0.

There are also other shells of gastropods and other shells of molluscs, such as ammonites and bivalves in the museum. It is worth to visit.

References

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Photo of the day (63): Turbinella pyrum

Turbinella pyrum is a large marine predatory snail. It belongs to the family Turbinellidae. The shell length of this species up to 150 mm.

This specimen of shell has unusual appearance, because it is a shankha. Shankha shells are religious items used in Buddhism and Hinduism. It is on display in temporary exhibition The Story of Tibet in Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures in Prague.

This shankha comes from Tibet or from Mongolia. It was used as a regilious ritual item in Tibetan Buddhism. The shell of this specimen is decorated with a metal plate, that gives the ability to use this shell as a trumpet.

References

Wikipedia contributors 2017: Shankha. accessed 29 July 2017.