Biology:Pyrazus ebeninus
| Hercules club mud whelk | |
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| Species: | P. ebeninus
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| Pyrazus ebeninus (Bruguière, 1792)
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Pyrazus ebeninus, commonly known as Hercules club mud whelk, mud whelk, Hercules club whelk, or Hercules whelk, is a species of sea snail. It is a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Batillariidae. It is endemic to Australia, mainly along the east coast,[1][2] inhabiting mud flats.[3]
Other names formerly ascribed to the species have been Clava herculea (Martyn, 1784); Cerithium ebeninum (Bruguière, 1792); Pyrazus baudini (Montfort, 1810); Lampania angulifera (Sowerby, 1866); and Pyrazus herculea.[2][4]
The species is most abundant in tropical or subtropical waters off Queensland and New South Wales, but has been found as far south as Tasmania. It had not been detected in the Port River in Adelaide, South Australia, since the last ice age, up to around 10,000 years ago, but in 2023, recent sightings there were confirmed by researcher Brad Martin. Scientists surmise that they were seeded there by ballast water brought in by ships, and growing beds of razorfish (Pinna bicolor) beds and oyster reefs have provided nurseries for the whelk.[5] One sighting was posted on iNaturalist on 28 September 2022.[6]
References
- ↑ Pyrazus ebeninus (Bruguière, 1792). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 17 May 2010.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Species: Pyrazus ebeninus (Hercules Club Whelk)". https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/87f2af1e-ccc6-4b09-a05c-aaae9b980afb.
- ↑ "Pyrazus ebeninus". https://seashellsofnsw.org.au/Batillariidae/Pages/Pyrazus_ebeninus.htm.
- ↑ "Species Pyrazus ebeninus (Bruguière, 1792)". Australian Government. Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. 1 June 2021. https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/Pyrazus_baudini.
- ↑ Horn, Caroline (24 July 2023). "Hercules welk discovered in Adelaide's Port River as razorfish beds, oyster reefs grow". https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-24/hercules-welk-discovered-in-adelaide-port-river/102616322.
- ↑ "The Recent Discovery of Hercules Club Mud Whelks (Pyrazus ebeninus) in the Port River System". 3 July 2023. http://mlssa.org.au/2023/07/03/the-recent-discovery-of-hercules-club-mud-whelks-pyrazus-ebeninus-in-the-port-river-system/.
External links
Wikidata ☰ Q7263419 entry
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