Homalocantha anatomica

Homalocantha anatomica (common name: "Pele's Murex" or "Anatomical Murex") is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.^[1][2]

Homalocantha anatomica
Four views of a shell of Homalocantha anatomica
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Muricidae
Genus:	Homalocantha
Species:	H. anatomica
Binomial name
Homalocantha anatomica (Perry, 1811)
Synonyms[1]
Hexaplex anatomica Perry, 1811 Homalocantha fauroti Jousseaume, 1888 Homalocantha rota (Mawe, 1823) Murex rota Mawe, 1823

Taxonomy

• Subspecies Homalocantha anatomica anatomica Perry, 1811
• Subspecies Homalocantha anatomica elatensis Heiman & Mienis, 2009 : synonym of Homalocantha elatensis Heiman & Mienis, 2009
• Subspecies Homalocantha anatomica pele H. A. Pilsbry, 1918
• Variety Homalocantha anatomica var. zamboi Burch & Burch, 1960 : synonym of Homalocantha zamboi (Burch & Burch, 1960)

Distribution

This species occurs in the Red Sea and throughout the Indo-Western Pacific, from Japan, Philippines and Fiji to the Hawaiian Islands.^[3][4][5]

A shell of Homalocantha anatomica from Japan on display at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano

Description

Adult shell size of Homalocantha anatomica varies between 38 mm and 63 mm.^[3] These shells are solid, whitish in color, sometimes tinted with yellow or red and moderately light in weight, with five to six varices per whorl. Aperture is small and white or pink. Labial lip shows irregular denticles. Columella is smooth and siphonal canal is moderately long.^[4]

Biology

These sea snails feed primarily on boring mussels in reef rocks.