Ceratostoma

Ceratostoma, common name the "hornmouth" snails, is a genus of medium to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Muricidae, the rock snails. ^[1]

Ceratostoma
A live individual of Ceratostoma foliatum, in situ on a rock
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Muricoidea
Family:	Muricidae
Subfamily:	Ocenebrinae
Genus:	Ceratostoma Herrmannsen, 1846
Synonyms
Cerostoma Conrad, 1837 (invalid: junior homonym of Cerostoma Latreille, 1802 [Lepidoptera]; Ceratostoma is an emendation ) Microrhytis Emerson, 1959 Pteropurpura (Ceratostoma) Herrmannsen, 1846 Spinostoma Coen, 1943

This genus should not be confused with the nudibranch genus Ceratosoma, meaning "thorn body". Ceratostoma means "thorn mouth" because of the thornlike projection on the edge of the aperture, used as a tool in predation to prop open the shells of bivalves and barnacles.

Species

Species within the genus Ceratostoma include:

• Ceratostoma burnetti (Adams & Reeve, 1849)
• Ceratostoma foliatum (Gmelin, 1791)
• Ceratostoma fournieri (Crosse, 1861)
• Ceratostoma monoceros (G. B. Sowerby II, 1841)
• Ceratostoma nuttalli Conrad, 1837
• Ceratostoma rorifluum (Adams & Reeve, 1849)

Species brought into synonymy:

• Ceratostoma inornatum (Récluz, 1851) accepted as Pteropurpura (Ocinebrellus) inornata (Récluz, 1851) accepted as Ocenebra inornata (Récluz, 1851)
• Ceratostoma varicosum (Kuroda, 1953) accepted as Genkaimurex varicosus (Kuroda, 1953)