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Babelomurex cariniferus
Species of gastropod From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Babelomurex cariniferus, common name Babel's latiaxis, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.[2][3]
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Distribution
Babelomurex cariniferus is present from the Mediterranean Sea to the west coast of Africa (Canaries, Cape Verde, Angola).[2][4][5][6]
This species (as junior synonym Latiaxis babelis) is listed in the IUCN Red List, because it is thought to be endemic to Malta.[1]
Habitat
These sea snails live in the coral reef among corals and sponges. They can be found from a few meters to more than 1000.[2][7]
Description
Shells of Babelomurex cariniferus can reach a size of 20–45 millimetres (0.79–1.77 in).[5] The shell surface may be whitish or dark greyish.[8] These shells are variably shaped. They show numerous flattened spires with very thorny axial ribs. The keels of the whorls are adorned with several spiniform scales. A corneous operculum is present.[7][9]
This species is quite similar to Babelomurex benoiti, but Babelomurex cariniferus is more variable in feature and sculpture and differs in the number of spiniform scales.[10]
Biology
These uncommon infralittoral sea snails are specialist feeders. In fact they feed exclusively on the polyps of the colonies of scleractinian stony corals.[7][11]
References
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