Concholepas concholepas (Bruguiére, 1789) is the intertidal gastropod whose shell strongly resembles that of a valve of a bivalve, and to a lesser degree, resembles an abalone gastropod. Concholepas concholepas, which is commonly referred to as the “barnacle rock” shell, belongs to family Muricidae and to subfamily Rapaninae (www.marinespecies.org). Like most muricids, Concholepas is a predatory gastropod. The shell of Concholepas, which can up to 8 cm in length, has a very reduced spire, thereby creating the appearance that this shell is of a large limpet (Anonymous, 1971) or of an abalone. In older literature, this gastropod went by the synonymous name of C. peruviana.
Conchoplepas concholepas is endemic to Peru and Chile, where is common and lives in cold-waters of the rocky shoreline littoral zone in the Peruvian and Magellanic Provinces. This gastropod, referred to as “loco” (in Chilean Spanish), is edible and has long been used as a food source. Locally, the effects of over harvesting by humans can be significant and severe. This large soft “foot” is tasty and wild-harvested by divers and then packed in salt water.
A growth series, left to right, of the exteriors of young to mature individuals of the gastropod C. concholepas. The largest specimen is 9 cm length and 6.7 cm wide. The next image shows the interior views of these same shells, as well as the operculum (the brown organic material that covers the aperture of the shell) of the largest young shells shown. This operculum is 3 cm high.
The fossil record of this genus is middle Miocene to Recent. Fossils of this genus are found only in Peru and Chile (DeVries, 1995).
REFERENCE:
Anonymous. 1971. Shells of the West Coast of the Americaqs: Concholepas concholepas. The Tabulata, July, 1971, p. 17.
DeVries, T.J. 1995. Concholepas Lamarck, 1801 (Neogastropoda: Muricoidea): A Neogene genus native to South America. The Veliger 38(4):284-297. Pdf available free on biodiversity.org
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