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Melo amphora, common name
the Diadem volute, is a very large sea snail
, a marine
gastropod mollusc in the family
Volutidae
, the volutes.
is the Latin
word for vase, derived from the Greek
amphoreus (αμφορεύς).
and New Guinea
to the northern half of Australia
.
and shallow sublittoral zones. It usually dwells in muddy bottoms at a maximum depth of nearly 10 m.
This large shell has a bulbous or nearly oval outline. Its columella
has three easily distinguishable oblique folds. The aperture
is wide and near as long as the shell itself, and there is no operculum
. It has a very large, inflated and posteriorly expanded body whorl
. One of its most striking characteristiscs is the shoulder with proeminent and curved hollow spines. These spines tend to become obsolete in later stages of growth. The spire
is usually very short.
The color of the Melo amphora shell is said to be highly variable. It is commonly mainly coloured brown, white, or pale orange. It usually presents spiral darker brown banding. The interior is glazed, and is commonly coloured cream or pinky orange.
The size and ornamentation of the Melo amphora shell makes it highly regarded as a decorative item. It is also known to be used as a water carrier, and as a bailer for fishing boats (like other species from the Melo genus
).
Common name
A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...
the Diadem volute, is a very large sea snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
, a marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
gastropod mollusc in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Volutidae
Volutidae
Volutidae, common name volutes, are a taxonomic family of predatory sea snails that range in size from 9 mm to over 500 mm, marine gastropod mollusks...
, the volutes.
Etymology
The specific name amphoraAmphora
An amphora is a type of vase-shaped, usually ceramic container with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body...
is the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
word for vase, derived from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
amphoreus (αμφορεύς).
Distribution
This species distribution is restricted to the tropical southwest Pacific, from southern IndonesiaIndonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
to the northern half of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Habitat
This large sea snail is known to live in littoralLittoral
The littoral zone is that part of a sea, lake or river that is close to the shore. In coastal environments the littoral zone extends from the high water mark, which is rarely inundated, to shoreline areas that are permanently submerged. It always includes this intertidal zone and is often used to...
and shallow sublittoral zones. It usually dwells in muddy bottoms at a maximum depth of nearly 10 m.
Shell description
The maximum shell length of this species is up to 500 mm, usually around 300 mm.This large shell has a bulbous or nearly oval outline. Its columella
Columella
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella is the most important writer on agriculture of the Roman empire. Little is known of his life. He was probably born in Gades , possibly of Roman parents. After a career in the army , he took up farming...
has three easily distinguishable oblique folds. The aperture
Aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are,...
is wide and near as long as the shell itself, and there is no operculum
Operculum (gastropod)
The operculum, meaning little lid, is a corneous or calcareous anatomical structure which exists in many groups of sea snails and freshwater snails, and also in a few groups of land snails...
. It has a very large, inflated and posteriorly expanded body whorl
Body whorl
Body whorl is part of the morphology of a coiled gastropod mollusk.- In gastropods :In gastropods, the body whorl, or last whorl, is the most recently-formed and largest whorl of a spiral or helical shell, terminating in the aperture...
. One of its most striking characteristiscs is the shoulder with proeminent and curved hollow spines. These spines tend to become obsolete in later stages of growth. The spire
Spire
A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....
is usually very short.
The color of the Melo amphora shell is said to be highly variable. It is commonly mainly coloured brown, white, or pale orange. It usually presents spiral darker brown banding. The interior is glazed, and is commonly coloured cream or pinky orange.
Life habits
Feeding
Melo amphora is known to be carnivorous. It is usually seen feeding on other volutes, like Zebramoria zebra, and may present cannibalistic behaviour, commonly feeding on smaller conspecific individuals.Human use
This species flesh is edible, and commonly used as food by native fisherman.The size and ornamentation of the Melo amphora shell makes it highly regarded as a decorative item. It is also known to be used as a water carrier, and as a bailer for fishing boats (like other species from the Melo genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
).