Phyllonotus margaritensis, common name the Margarita Murex, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.
Description Shell presents large and strong reaching sizes between 7–11 cm, with 4 or 5 lap varices, varices these are simple, nodular and obtuse, siphonal canal wide and curved. The mouth has colors that can vary from yellow, orange and red and the inner lip is nodulated at the base.Warmke, Germaine L. & Abbott, R Tucker. 1961. Caribbean Seashells. Livingston Publishing Company. Narberth. Pennsylvania.Morris, A. P. 1973. A Field Guide to Shells of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and the West Indies. Hougmon Mifflin Co Boston.Macsotay O. & Campos. R. 2001. Moluscos representativos de la plataforma de Margarita. Editora Rivolta. Valencia. 280p.
Sexual dimorphism Studies in relation to the size of males and females suggests that females tend to have Phyllonotus margaritensis size larger than males and greater variation in shape.Galindo Pérez, Lee Ann. 2009. Estudio morfométrico del dimorfismo sexual de las conchas de especies de Gastrópodos marinos comunes (Mollusca: Gastropoda) en Venezuela. Universidad de Oriente. Trabajo de Grado presentado como requisito parcial para optar al título de Magister Scientiarum en Ciencias Marinas, Mención Biología Marina. Cumaná. 244p.
Distribution North Carolina to Florida and Caribbean Sea to Brazil.Leal, J.H. Gastropods. The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum In the Southern Caribbean is noted in: Colombia,Díaz, J.M. y Puyana, M. 1994. Moluscos del Caaribe colombiano. Un catálogo ilustrado. COLCIENCIAS, fundación Natura e INVEMAR, Bogotá. 367p. VenezuelaCapelo, J.C. y J. Buitrago. 1998. Distribución de los moluscos marinos en el oriente de de Venezuela. Memoria de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle, 150:109–160. and Trinidad.Malacolog Version 4.1.1 A Database of Western Atlantic Marine Mollusca: Phyllonotus margaritensis (Abbott, 1958). The academic of Natural Science.
Habitat This sea snail is often found in abundance in seagrass beds,Arias Isaza, Francisco A. y col. 2011. Distribución y abundancia de las poblaciones de gasterópodos de importancia comercial en La Guajira, Caribe Colombiano. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras José Benito Vives de Andréis. (INVEMAR). Santa Marta. 33p. but also can be observed on rocky areas and reef areas at lower densities.Ramos G. Hilda. y Robaina G. German. 1994. Contribucion al conocimiento de los moluscos gasteropodos y pelecipodos de la Bahia de Mochima. Edo. Sucre. Venezuela. Memoria de la Sociedad de Ciencias Naturales La Salle. LIV(141):95–106. It has been collected in a bathymetric range from 0 to 200 m. This muricid is an active predator of bivalves such as sand-dwelling clams.Urosa, L.J. 1972. algunos depredadores del mejillón comestible Perna perna (L.). Boletín del Instituto OCeanográfico. Universidad de Oriente, 11(1):3–18.
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References
Reading Merle D., Garrigues B. & Pointier J.-P. (2011) Fossil and Recent Muricidae of the world. Part Muricinae. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 648 pp. page(s): 116
External links
Zipcodezoo.com: Phyllonotus margaritensis
Biodiversity Heritage Library: Bibliography for Phyllonotus margaritensis Smithsonian Nationañ Museum of Natural History Sea life base: Phyllonotus margaritensis (Abbott, 1958)