CORAL-SNAIL EXAMPLES

Subfamily Coralliophilinae is a large group (200 to 250 species) of warm-water marine gastropods that feed exclusively on anthozoans (especially corals); hence, they are referred to as "coral snails." These gastropods burrow into corals or live in rock crevices, as well as on rocks or on sea fans, in shallow to deep waters (Eisenberg, 1981, p. 188). They are carnivores and feed on soft corals, hydrozoans, and anemones. The embryonic forms of coralliophilines allow for wide dispersal of their spawn; especially in the southwest Pacific (e.g., Japan, Taiwan, Phillipines, etc.). Coralliphilines are commonly  characterized by rather medium-size shells with some or numerous delicate spines. Some of the species show considerable morphologic variation, thus they have been very prone to being overnamed by workers.

Early workers assigned many of the coralliphilines to genus Latiaxis. A few of these gastropods do actually belong to that genus, but, in recent years, modern workers have reassigned many of these gastropods to various other genera. Three species of coralliphilines are illustrated below:

Latiaxis pilsbryi Y. Hirase, 1908. This name is still valid today, according to WoRMS (2023). Three views: front, back, and top, respectively. Specimen 35 mm (width) and 27 mm (height). This species is characterized by a flat spire rimmed by blunt spines. This species, which has variable morphology, can be found in the waters off Japan and Taiwan.

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 Latiaxis mawae (Gray, J.E. in Griffith and Pidgeon, 1834). Four views: front, back, top, and right side, respectively. Specimen is 40 mm (width) and 52 mm (height). The aperture of this specimen has its operculum present. This species can be to 70 mm in height, and some specimens have a reddish brown color (see Hardy’s Internet Guide to Marine Gastropods). This species, which has variable morphology, can be found in the waters off Japan and and Queensland, Australia. The species mawae is the type species of genus Latiaxis (i.e., it is the species used to originally define the genus Latiaxis).

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Babelomurex spinosus (Y. Hirase, 1908). Three views: front, back, and left side, respectively. Specimen: width 27 mm (width) and a 30 mm (height). This species has variable morphology and can closely resemble several other species. All? (most?) of them probably belong to a “species complex” that needs DNA studies. This species can be found in the waters off of Japan, Philippines, the southern China Sea, and North Australia. I used  WoRMS (2023) to help me with the vey confusing taxonomic history of this gastropod, which has many synonyms (previous names); and until [recently, including Latiaxis pagodus (A. Adams, 1853). 

References Cited

Eisenberg, J.M. 1981. A collector’s guide to seashells of the world. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 239 pp.

Hardy’s Internet Guide to Marine Gastropods. An internet source with illustrations of museum-quality seashells.

Hirase, Y. 1908. On Japanese marine Mollusca 2, with the descriptions of two new species of Muricidae and Buccinidae. The Conchological Magazine 2:66–74. Available online.

WoRMS. 2023. An internet source.