Melo (genus)
Encyclopedia
Melo is a 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...

 of extremely 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...

s, 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 molluscs in the family 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. Because of their huge ovate shells, these snails are often known as "balers" (the shells were sometimes used for baling out canoes) or "melons" (because the shell resembles that fruit).

Species in this genus sometimes produce large pearls. The image in the taxobox shows a group of these pearls with a shell of the species Melo melo
Melo melo
Melo melo, common name the Indian volute or bailer shell, is a very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Volutidae, the volutes.-Distribution:...

.

Species

Species in the genus Melo include:
  • Melo aethiopica
    Melo aethiopica
    Melo aethiopica, common name the crowned baler, is a very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Volutidae, the volutes.- External links :*...

    Linnaeus, 1758) Crowned baler
  • Melo amphora, (Lightfoot
    John Lightfoot FRS
    The Reverend John Lightfoot was an English conchologist and botanist.He was born in Newent, Gloucestershire and educated at Pembroke College, Oxford. He gained a BA in 1756 and an MA in 1766....

    , 1786)
    Giant baler
    Giant baler
    Melo amphora, common name the Diadem volute, is a very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Volutidae, the volutes.-Etymology:...

  • Melo diadema
  • Melo broderipii
    Melo broderipii
    Melo broderipii is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes....

    (Griffith, E. & E. Pidgeon, 1834)
  • Melo georginae
    Melo georginae
    Melo georginae is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes....

    (Griffith, E. & E. Pidgeon, 1834)
  • Melo melo
    Melo melo
    Melo melo, common name the Indian volute or bailer shell, is a very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Volutidae, the volutes.-Distribution:...

    (Lightfoot
    John Lightfoot FRS
    The Reverend John Lightfoot was an English conchologist and botanist.He was born in Newent, Gloucestershire and educated at Pembroke College, Oxford. He gained a BA in 1756 and an MA in 1766....

    , 1786)
    Indian volute
  • Melo miltonis
    Melo miltonis
    Melo miltonis, the southern bailer or southern baler, is a large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Volutidae, the volutes.-Habitat:...

    (Griffith, E. & E. Pidgeon, 1834) Milton's melon or Southern bailer
  • Melo nautica (Lamarck, 1822)
  • Melo umbilicatus
    Melo umbilicatus
    Melo umbilicatus, common name the heavy baler or umbilicate melon, is a very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Volutidae, the volutes....

    (Broderip in Sowerby, 1826) Heavy baler or umbilicate melon
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