Cymbiola rutila

Cymbiola rutila, the blood-red volute, is a species of large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes.^[1]

Cymbiola rutila
Cymbiola rutila
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Volutidae
Genus:	Cymbiola
Species:	C. rutila
Binomial name
Cymbiola rutila (Broderip, 1826)
Synonyms
Cymbiola (Cymbiola) rutila (Broderip, 1826)· accepted, alternate representation Voluta macgillivrayi Cox, 1873 Voluta norrisii Gray, 1838 Voluta piperita G. B. Sowerby I, 1844 Voluta rückeri Crosse, 1867 Voluta rückeri var. ceraunia Crosse, 1880 Voluta rueckeri Crosse, 1867

Description

The shell attains a length of 74 mm.

Habitat

Volutes are predators that live in deep waters, where they stalk and kill other molluscs. Volutes do not have a free-swimming larval stage. Their large egg capsules contain enough food to allow the embryos to develop over several months. What emerges from these capsules are tiny but fully formed shells. Volutes tend to spend their life in colonies, and have small home ranges.^[2]

Distribution

This marine species occurs off New Britain and Western Australia.