Xymene ambiguus

Taxobox
name = "Xymene ambiguus"


image_caption = "Xymene ambiguus", large trophon, (female)
status =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
ordo = Sorbeoconcha
familia = Muricidae
genus = "Xymene"
species = "X. ambiguus"
binomial = "Xymene ambiguus"
binomial_authority = (Philippi, 1844)
synonyms = "Fusus ambiguus" Philippi, 1844

"Xymene ambiguus", or the large trophon, is a species of large predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae, the rock snails or murex snails.

Distribution

This murex species is endemic to New Zealand. It is found around all three main New Zealand islands, plus the Chatham Islands.

Habitat

This large snail is found from shallow water to depths of 90 m.

hell description

The shell is large and , with a tall spire and a moderate to long, flexed and recurved siphonal canal. The canal is much longer in shells from the southern part of the range.

There is considerable difference in shape and sculpture between the shells of males and females - the female's sculpture is of a lattice, whereas the male's is much smoother and broader.

Coloration is yellowish-white, sometimes purplish-brown within the aperture.

References

* Powell A W B, "New Zealand Mollusca", William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1