Phyllonotus margaritensis

Phyllonotus margaritensis, common name the Margarita Murex, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.^[1]

Phyllonotus margaritensis
Shell of Phyllonotus margaritensis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Muricidae
Genus:	Phyllonotus
Species:	P. margaritensis
Binomial name
Phyllonotus margaritensis (Abbott, 1958)
Synonyms[1]
Chicoreus (Phyllonotus) margaritensis (Abbott, 1958) Chicoreus margaritensis (Abbott, 1958) Murex imperialis Swainson, 1831 (Invalid: junior homonym of Murex imperialis Fischer, 1807; Murex margaritensis is a replacement name) Murex margaritensis Abbott, 1958

Description

Shell presents large and strong reaching sizes between 7–11 cm, with 4 or 5 lap varices, varices these are simple, nodular and obtuse, siphonal canal wide and curved. The mouth has colors that can vary from yellow, orange and red and the inner lip is nodulated at the base.^[2][3][4][5]

Sexual dimorphism

Studies in relation to the size of males and females suggests that females tend to have Phyllonotus margaritensis size larger than males and greater variation in shape.^[6]

Distribution

North Carolina to Florida and Caribbean Sea to Brazil.^[7] In the Southern Caribbean is noted in: Colombia,^[5][8] Venezuela^[4][9] and Trinidad.^[10]

Habitat

This sea snail is often found in abundance in seagrass beds,^[4][5] but also can be observed on rocky areas and reef areas at lower densities.^[11] It has been collected in a bathymetric range from 0 to 200 m.^[7] This muricid is an active predator of bivalves such as sand-dwelling clams.^[12]

Gallery

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