Hexaplex erythrostomus (pink-mouth murex snail) 3 (25058427635)

Description:

Description: Hexaplex erythrostomus (Swainson, 1831) - pink-mouth murex snail (apertural view) (public display, Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum, Sanibel Island, Florida, USA) This species is also known as Phyllonotus erythrostomus. The gastropods (snails & slugs) are a group of molluscs that occupy marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. Most gastropods have a calcareous external shell (the snails). Some lack a shell completely, or have reduced internal shells (the slugs & sea slugs & pteropods). Most members of the Gastropoda are marine. Most marine snails are herbivores (algae grazers) or predators/carnivores. The pink-mouth murex snail shown above is part of the Panamic Province: "Much richer in species than its Caribbean counterpart, the tropical-water Panamic area extends from the Gulf of California, along the Pacific coast of Central America to Ecuador. Known for its wide tidal ranges, its sandy-mud shores and offshore waters abound in colorful murexes, cones, olives and cowries. Over 2,500 species are known from here, including the endemic tent olive." [info. from museum signage] Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Neogastropoda, Muricidae Locality: unrecorded/undisclosed/unspecified More info. at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexaplex_erythrostomus. Date: 3 January 2016, 17:01. Source: Hexaplex erythrostomus (pink-mouth murex snail) 3. Author: James St. John.