Carinaria galea Benson, 1835c

Overview

This is a very large shelled pelagic snail, up to 5 cm long, with an almost completely transparent body(Carinaria galea). The body can never withdraw into the shell. The shell is high conical with a high keel. Only the broad triangular visceral nucleus is darkly pigmented. The large eyes, with black retina, and the mouth organs are clearly seen. The intestine is frequently full and visible. The body is long and cylindrical with one swimming fin. It hunts large prey such as fish, shelled pteropods and other heteropods. It lives in upper layers of the warm waters of the Indo-Pacific Ocean (Carinaria galea 2).

Taxonomic Description

This is an elegant slender animal with high shells and a high keel. The relatively small body has a relatively thin cutis with few number of large tubercles. The tail crest is depressed and forms only a small rim. The eyes are dark, less broad based than in lamarcki but the retinal windows are much smaller. Tentacles are asymmetrical. The visceral nucleus is high, not triangular. The number of gills is small, about 6. The round fin has a sucker in both sexes. The elevated shell shows a very high keel, as high as half the aperture diameter (Carinaria galea shell, Carinaria galea 1). The shell is less strongly curved backwards than in Carinaria lamarcki. Embryonic shell, with 3.5 whorls, is less elevated than in Carinaria cristata and slightly inclined. The Carinaria galea radula formula is 2-1-1-1-2, the Carinaria galea median teeth are tricuspoid.
Body length up to 50 mm.

Juveniles

The Carinaria galea young has a small, dextrally coiled shell without a keel. The protoconch (Carinaria galea protoconch, Carinaria galea protoconch I) is covered with dense dots and (Carinaria galea protoc 2, Carinaria galea protoconch) shows two spiral lines and numerous transverse lines.

Reproduction

In this species the sexes are separate.

Ecology

This species is carnivorous and epipelagic.

Distribution

This species is endemic to the Indo-Pacific Ocean and it shares its distribution pattern with Carinaria cristata. A much greater population is found only in the Tasman Sea, see the Carinaria galea map.

Types

Carinaria galea Benson, 1835c: 216.
Type locality: 40°30'S-4°30'N, 87°30'E-90°30'W. Coll.: Benson.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Gastropoda
Subclass Streptoneura
Order Mesogastropoda
Superfamily Atlantacea
Family Carinariidae
Genus Carinaria
Species Carinaria galea

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Not included in WoRMS database

Scientific synonyms and common names

Carinaria galea Benson, 1835c

Synonyms

Carinaria galea n. sp. Benson, 1835c: 216
Carinaria gaudichaudi n. sp. Gray, 1850: 100
Carinaria cornucopia? n. sp. Gould, 1846: 152; Gould, 1861: 408

Abbott, R. T., 1974. (2 ed.). American seashells. New York, Cincinnati, Toronto, London, Melbourne (van Nostrand Reinhold Co.): 1-663, 6405 figs.

Benson, W. H., 1835c. Description of two new species of Carinaria lately discovered in the Indian Ocean. J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal. 4: 215-216.

Gould, A. A., 1846. Expedition shells: described for the work of the United States exploring expedition. During the years 1838-1842. Under the command of Charles Wilkes. Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat Hist. 1846: 150-178.

Gould, A. A., 1861. Description of shells collected in the north Pacific exploring expedition under captains Ringgold and Rodgers. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 7: 401-409.

Gray, J. E., 1850. Catalogue of the Mollusca in the collection of the British Museum, 2. Pteropoda. London (British Museum, E. Newman): iv + 45 pp.

Newman, L. J., 1990. Holoplanktonic molluscs (Gastropoda; Thecosomata, Gymnosomata, and Heteropoda) from the waters of Australia and Papua New Guinea: their taxonomy, distribution and biology. PhD Thesis Univ. Qld. Australia. 208 pp.

Okutani, T., 1961. Notes on the genus Carinaria (Heteropoda) from Japanese and adjacent waters. Publ. Seto mar. biol. Lab. 9(2): 333-252.

Rao, T. S. S., 1979. Zoogeography of the Indian Ocean. In: Spoel, S. van der and Pierrot-Bults, A. C. (eds). Zoogeography and diversity in plankton. Utrecht (Bunge Sci. Publ.): 254-292.

Seapy, R. R., 1986. The heteropod fauna of oceanic waters off Hawaii. West. Soc. Malac. 19: 9-13.

Seapy, R. R., 1994. Veliger larvae of Carinariidae (Mollsuca: heteropoda) from Hawaiian waters. Veliger 37(4): 336-343.

Sowerby, G. B., 1895. Notes on the genus Carinaria, with an enumeration of the species and the description of a new form. Proc. Malac. Soc. London 1: 14-16, 5 figs.

Starobogatov, J. I., 1971. Ordo Thecosomata; ordo Gymnosomata; ordo Heteropoda. In: Polevoy Zool. Inst. Akad. Moscou. opredeliteli planktona (without page or figure numbers, not bound, mimiographed). [in Russsian]

Tesch, J. J., 1906a. Heteropoda der Siboga expeditie. Siboga Rep. 51: 1-112, 14 pls.

Tesch, J. J., 1949. Heteropoda. Dana Rep. 34: 1-55, 5 pls.

Thiriot-Quievreux, C., 1973b. Heteropoda. In: H. Barnes. Oceanogr. London (G. Allen and Unwin Ltd.). Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev. 11: 237-261, 11 figs.

Tokioka, T., 1961. The structure of the operculum of the species of Atlantidae (Gastropoda: Heteropoda) as a taxonomic criterion, with records of some pelagic mollusks in the North Pacific. Publ. Seto mar. biol. Lab. 9(2): 267-332 (art. 15, pp. 1-86).

Spoel, S. van der, 1972c. Notes on the identification and speciation of Heteropoda (Gastropoda). Zool. Meded. 47: 545-560.

Spoel, S. van der, 1976c. Pseudothecosomata, Gymnosomata and Heteropoda. Bohn, Scheltema & Holkema, Utrecht. 484 pp. 246 figs.

Yamaji, I., 1991. Illustrations of the marine plankton of Japan. 3°Ed. Hoikusha Publ. Co. Ltd, Osaka.: 1-538.

Zhang, F., 1964. The pelagic molluscs off the China coast, 1. A systematic study of Pteropoda (Opisthobranchia), Heteropoda (Prosobranchia) and Janthinidae (Ptenoglossa, Prosobranchia). Stud. Mar. Sinica 5: 125-226.

Zheng Zhong (et al.), 1989. Marine Planktology. China Ocean Press. Bejing: i-viii, 1-454. [transl. from Chinese orig.]

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