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Acanthinucella spirata

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Acanthinucella spirata
A live Acanthinucella spirata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Muricidae
Genus: Acanthinucella
Species:
A. spirata
Binomial name
Acanthinucella spirata
(Blainville, 1832)
Synonyms[1]

Monoceros unicarinata Sowerby I, 1835
Purpura brevidens Conrad, 1837
Purpura engonata Conrad, 1837
Purpura lapilloides var. aurantia Dall, 1908
Purpura spirata Blainville, 1832

Acanthinucella spirata is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.[1]

Biology

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This species is predatory, preying on the genus Littorina. Its egg capsules are 4-9 mm long, and hold 17-49 embryos. It uses paralytic venom, presumably to hunt its prey.[2]

Distribution

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A. spirata occurs on the West Coast, or the Pacific Ocean coast of North America, living in rocky intertidal zones.[3]

Human use

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This species is known to have been exploited by some Native Americans such as the Chumash of Central California approximately 1000 to 1200 AD.[4]

References

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  1. 1 2 Acanthinucella spirata (Blainville, 1832). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 24 April 2010.
  2. Hemingway, George (1978). "Evidence for a paralytic venom in the intertidal snail, Acanthina spirata (Neogastropoda: Thaisidae)". ScienceDirect. Retrieved 26 April 2026.
  3. Cowles, Dave (2005). "Acanthina spirata". inverts.wallawalla.edu. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
  4. C. Michael Hogan, Los Osos Back Bay, Megalithic Portal, editor A. Burnham (2008)
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