A report on Gibberulus gibbosus (R?ding, 1798)

摘要

Gibberulus gibbosus (or as it is sometimes still known, Strombus gibberulus gibbosus) is abundant in many lagoon sand flats in the Marshall Islands. In some areas the hump-backed or hunchback conch seems to be the most common mollusk present. They are seen only rarely on the seaward reef. They range from about 1 to at least 20m depth and probably often extend deeper as well. The largest we know of was about 49mm long. Sometimes the shell is pure white, but it often is variably marked with brown and may have a purple or white aperture. Occasionally we see piles of shells that have been recently cleaned out by some predator without damaging the shell. We suspect some nocturnally active octopus is pulling the animals out of the shells and devouring them in large numbers.