Penion maximus

Penion maximus
A shell of Penion maximus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Buccinoidea
Family: Buccinidae
Genus: Penion
Species: P. maximus
Binomial name
Penion maximus
(Tryon, G.W., 1881)

Penion maximus is a species of very large predatory sea snail or whelk, commonly known as giant whelk or great whelk, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks.

Description

Penion maximus is the largest species of Penion siphon whelk, and is endemic to Australia.[1][2] The species could be confused with the sympatric species P. mandarinus, however P. mandarinus is typically smaller and has a smoother shell with a shorter siphonal canal.[1]

Distribution

The range of the species extends from waters off Tasmania and Victoria to lower Queensland.[1][2]

Evolution

Penion maximus is closely related to another Australian species P. mandarinus.[2][3] The species have overlapping geographic ranges (sympatry) and may have evolved from a common ancestor via niche differentiation based on prey size and water depth.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ponder, W.F.. 1973. A review of the Australian species of Penion Fischer (Neogastropoda: Buccinidae). Journal of the Malacological Society of Australia 2: 401–428.
  2. 1 2 3 Vaux, Felix; Hills, Simon F.K.; Marshall, Bruce A.; Trewick, Steven A.; Morgan-Richards, Mary (2017). "A phylogeny of Southern Hemisphere whelks (Gastropoda: Buccinulidae) and concordance with the fossil record". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 114 (2017): 367–381. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2017.06.018.
  3. 1 2 Vaux, Felix; Crampton, James S.C.; Trewick, Steven A.; Marshall, Bruce A.; Beu, Alan G.; Hills, Simon F.K.; Morgan-Richards, Mary (2018). "Evolutionary lineages of marine snails identified using molecular phylogenetics and geometric morphometric analysis of shells". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 127 (October 2018): 626–637. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.06.009.


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