Triton's trumpet Giant Triton - Charonia tritonis

Charonia tritonis, common name the Triton’s trumpet or the Giant Triton, is a species of very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Charoniidae, the tritons. Reaching up to two feet (or 60 cm) in shell length this is one of the biggest mollusks in the coral reefTritone Charonia tritonis Tritone gigante Giant Triton intotheblue.it

Il Tritone del Mediterraneo - Charonia Tritonis - the Giant Triton - intotheblue.it

Il Tritone del Mediterraneo – Charonia Tritonis – the Giant Triton – intotheblue.it

Distribution and habitat

Widespread in the Pacific and in the Indian. It is also present in the Mediterranean (Sicily Channel) at depths of between 20 and 40 meters.

 

Feeding habits

Charonia tritonis is one of the few animals to feed on the crown-of-thorns starfish, Acanthaster planci. Occasional plagues of this large and destructive starfish have killed extensive areas of coral on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia and the western Pacific reefs. The triton has been described as tearing the starfish to pieces with its file-like radula.

 

Il Tritone del Mediterraneo - Charonia Tritonis - the Giant Triton - intotheblue.it

Il Tritone del Mediterraneo – Charonia Tritonis – the Giant Triton – intotheblue.it

Much debate has occurred on whether plagues of crown-of-thorns starfish are natural or are caused by overfishing of the few organisms that can eat this starfish, including C. tritonis. In 1994, Australia proposed that C. tritonis should be put on the CITES list, thereby attempting to protect the species. Because of a lack of trade data concerning this seashell, the Berne Criteria from CITES were not met, and the proposal was consequently withdrawn. While this species may be protected in Australia and other countries (such as India), it can be legally traded and is found for sale in many shell shops around the world and on the Internet.

  https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charonia_tritonis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charonia_tritonis

Il Tritone del Mediterraneo - Charonia Tritonis - the Giant Triton - intotheblue.it

Il Tritone del Mediterraneo – Charonia Tritonis – the Giant Triton – intotheblue.it

 

 

Gallery

Questo slideshow richiede JavaScript.

 

 

Video Gallery

Tritone

Charonia tritonis – Tritone mediterraneo

Il Tritone del Mediterraneo

Il Tritone del Mediterraneo

Lascia un commento

%d blogger hanno fatto clic su Mi Piace per questo: