Nassarius Totally Explained

Everything about Nassarius totally explained

Nassarius, common names nassa mud snails (USA) or dog whelks (UK), is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Nassariidae, the nassa mud snails or dog whelks.

Distribution

Species within this genus are found worldwide.

Habitat

These snails usually live on mud flats or sand flats, intertidally or subtidally.

Life habits

Most Nassarius species are very active scavengers, feeding on such things as dead fish, etc. They often burrow into marine substrates and then wait with their siphons stuck out into the water until they smell nearby food.

Shell decription

These snails have oval shells with a relatively high spire and a siphonal notch.

Anatomy

The animal has a long siphon.

Human use

Modern information

Nassarius vibex is a species often selected for marine aquaria. It is often confused with the Nassarius_obsoletus, which is a cooler water snail less suited to marine temperatures.
The shells of various species of Nassarius are popular with shell collectors, and are sometimes used in jewellry and other forms of decoration.

Archeological information

Several beads made from Nassarius gibbosulus shells are thought to be the earliest known forms of personal adornment, or even jewelry. Two shell beads found in Skhul Cave on the slopes of Mount Carmel, Israel are thought to be 100,000 years old, whilst another found at Oued Djebbana, Algeria is believed to be 90,000 years old. A further group of pierced shells, some with red ochre, has been recovered from the Aterian levels at Grotte des Pigeons, Taforalt, Morocco; these Nassarius gibbosulus beads have been securely dated to about 82,000 years ago . All these examples predate several 75,000 year old Nassarius kraussianus beads found at Blombos Cave, South Africa, also including some colored with red ochre, that were previously thought to be the oldest examples of jewelry.

Species

Nassarius acutus (Say, 1822) - sharp nassa
Nassarius albus (Say, 1826) - antilles nassa, white nassa
Nassarius angulicostis (Pilsbry and Lowe, 1932)
Nassarius antillarum (d'Orbigny, 1842) - Antilles nassa
Nassarius aoteanus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Nassarius arcularius Finlay, 1927
Nassarius catallus (Dall, 1908)
Nassarius cerritensis (Arnold, 1903)
Nassarius consensus (Ravenel, 1861) - striate nassa
Nassarius crematus (Hinds, 1844)
Nassarius cremmatus
Nassarius delosi (Woodring, 1946)
Nassarius ephamillus (Watson, 1882)
Nassarius fossatus (Gould, 1850) - channeled nassa
Nassarius fraterculus (Dunker, 1860) - Japanese nassa
Nassarius gallegosi Strong and Hertlein, 1937
Nassarius glans particeps (Hedley, 1915)
Nassarius guaymasensis (Pilsbry and Lowe, 1932)
Nassarius hotessieri (d'Orbigny, 1845) - miniature nassa
Nassarius howardae Chace, 1958
Nassarius incrassatus (Stroem, 1768)
Nassarius insculptus (Carpenter, 1864) - smooth western nassa
Nassarius iodes (Dall, 1917)
Nassarius limacinus (Dall, 1917)
Nassarius luteostoma Broderip and Sowerby, 1829
Nassarius mendicus (Gould, 1850) - lean western nassa
Nassarius miser (Dall, 1908)
Nassarius moestus (Hinds, 1844)
Nassarius nanus
Nassarius nigrolabra (Verrill, 1880)
Nassarius obsoletus (Say, 1822) - eastern mudsnail
Nassarius olomea Kay, 1979
Nassarius onchodes (Dall, 1917)
Nassarius pagodus (Reeve, 1844)
Nassarius papillosus (Gould, 1850)
Nassarius perpinguis (Hinds, 1844) - fat western nassa
Nassarius polygonatus (Lamarck, 1822)
Nassarius pygmaeus Lamarck, 1822
Nassarius reticulatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Nassarius rhinetes S. S. Berry, 1953 - California nassa
Nassarius scissuratus (Dall, 1889) - carved nassa
Nassarius shaskyi Mclean, 1970
Nassarius spiratus (A. Adams, 1852)
Nassarius splendidulus (Dunker, 1846)
Nassarius tiarula (Kiener, 1841) - western mud nassa
Nassarius trivittatus (Say, 1822) - threeline mudsnail
Nassarius versicolor (C. B. Adams, 1852)
Nassarius vibex (Say, 1822) - bruised nassa

References

Further Information

Get more info on 'Nassarius'.

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