Harpago chiragra (chiragra spider conch) 1 (15529721807)

Description:

Description: Harpago chiragra (Linnaeus, 1758) - chiragra spider conch shell, abapertural view (22.5 cm tall), modern (latest Holocene). The spider conchs, or lambid snails (often grouped with the true conchs - the strombids), are herbivorous gastropods in tropical photic zone environments, feeding on benthic filamentous algae. Lambids can have large, thick shells that are often quite colorful, especially in the apertural areas. Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda, Stromboidea, Lambidae (or Strombidae) 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. Some info. from Harasewych & Alcosser (1991) and Hill (1996). Date: 5 November 2014, 01:20. Source: Harpago chiragra (chiragra spider conch) 1. Author: James St. John.