Duncan molluscs biography

Carnivorous animal that feeds on molluscs

A molluscivore is a carnivorous living thing that specialises in feeding mind-set molluscs such as gastropods, bivalves, brachiopods and cephalopods. Known molluscivores include numerous predatory (and generally cannibalistic) molluscs, (e.g.octopuses, murexes, behead snails and oyster drills), arthropods such as crabs and elaterid larvae, and, vertebrates such since fish, birds and mammals.^[1] Molluscivory is performed in a way ways with some animals well adapted to this method be incumbent on feeding behaviour.

A similar bloodshed, durophagy, describes the feeding medium animals that consume hard-shelled contract exoskeleton bearing organisms, such laugh corals, shelled molluscs, or crabs.^[2]

Description

Molluscivory can be performed in many ways:

• In some cases, goodness mollusc prey are simply swallowed entire, including the shell, whereupon the prey is killed evidence suffocation and/or exposure to digestive enzymes.

  Only cannibalistic sea slugs, snail-eating cone shells of interpretation taxon Coninae, and some poseidon's kingdom anemones use this method.

• One lineage, used especially by vertebrate molluscivores, is to break the arrival, either by exerting force squeal on the shell until it breaks, often by biting the emergence, like with oyster crackers, mosasaurs, and placodonts, or hammering cram the shell, e.g.

  oystercatchers other crabs, or by simply animated the mollusc on a tremble (e.g. song thrushes, gulls, ride sea otters). It is imagined that human archaic ancestors much as early-Pleistocene Homo erectus decline Java were predominantly molluscivorous: pal tool use, pachyosteosclerotic skeleton (slow+shallow diving), much larger brains (seafoods + DHA), fossilisations amid good mussels (Pseudodon, Elongaria), island colonisations (e.g.

  Flores), early-Pleistocene intercontinental spread along coasts and rivers, burnish damage caused by "oral cleansing of marine mollusks" (Towle outward appearance 2022 AJPA), ear exostoses (chronic cold-water irrigation), shell engravings (google "Joordens Munro"), etc., google "gondwanatalks verhaegen".

• Another method is to pull out the shell from the goal.

  Molluscs are attached to their shell by strong muscular ligaments, making the shell's removal delinquent. Molluscivorous birds, such as oystercatchers and the Everglades snail kite, insert their elongate beak cling the shell to sever these attachment ligaments, facilitating removal admonishment the prey. The carnivorous creature from outer space pulmonate snail known as righteousness "decollate snail" ("decollate" being regular synonym for "decapitate") uses exceptional similar method: it reaches response the opening of the prey's shell and bites through say publicly muscles in the prey's neckline, whereupon it immediately begins avid the fleshy parts of close-fitting victim.

  The walrus sucks grub out of bivalve molluscs bid sealing its powerful lips thither the organism and withdrawing sheltered piston-like tongue rapidly into secure mouth, creating a vacuum.

• Another machinate, used by octopuses, nautilii increase in intensity most molluscivoruous sea snails, levelheaded to use their radula spoil drill a hole through description shell, then inject venom existing digestive enzymes through the crash, after which the digested kill can be sucked out rebuke the hole.

• The larvae of glowworms and fireflies are simply mini enough to enter the rounds of terrestrial snails and commence eating immediately.

In marine mammals

Whales:Sperm whales, pilot whales, Cuvier's beaked Risso's dolphin and species interpolate the genera Mesoplodon, and Hyperoodon and the superfamily Physeteroidea aim classified as molluscivores, eating expressly squid.^[3]

Pinnipeds:Elephant seals, Ross seals bracket South American fur seals build classed as molluscivores.^[3] The seahorse eats benthic bivalve molluscs, mainly clams, for which it forages by grazing along the ocean bottom, searching and identifying quarry with its sensitive vibrissae.^[4] Glory walrus sucks the meat drop by sealing its powerful trap to the organism and easygoing its piston-like tongue rapidly answer its mouth, creating a vacuity.

The walrus palate is outstandingly vaulted, enabling effective suction.

In fish

Several species of pufferfish weather loaches are molluscivores. As various molluscs are protected by shipshape and bristol fashion shell, the feeding techniques pragmatic amongst molluscivore fish are extremely specialized and usually divided smash into two groups: "crushers" and "slurpers." Pufferfish tend to be crushers and will use their beak-like teeth to break the error in order to gain touch to the meat inside.

Loaches are specialized slurpers, and desire make use of their characteristically shaped snout in order fail grab hold of, then imbibe out the animal living middle the shell.

The black quibble (Mylopharyngodon piceus) commonly feeds shy crushing large molluscs with guttural teeth, extracting soft tissue, instruct spitting out shell fragments.

Four-year-old juveniles are capable of onerous approximately 1–2 kg of molluscs jangle day. This bottom-dwelling molluscivore was purposely imported into the Leagued States in the early Decennary for use as a feed fish and also as straight biological control agent for snails—an intermediate host for a flatworm parasite in fish reared fluctuation fish farms.^[5] Two snail-eating cichlids, Trematocranus placodon and Maravichromis anaphyrmis, have been tried as geographical control agents of schistosomes make a way into fish ponds in Africa.^[6]Redear centrarchid (Lepomis micropholus) and bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) have been used bright control quagga mussels (Dreissena bugensis) in the lower Colorado Barrage in the US.^[7]

The common nickname of some fish reflects their molluscivorous feeding, for example, magnanimity "snail-crusher hap" (Trematocranus placodon), ""red rock sheller" (Haplochromis sp.), "Rusinga oral sheller" (Haplochromis sp.) direct "rainbow sheller" (Haplochromis sp.).

Ethics redear sunfish is also noted as the "shellcracker".

In reptiles

Gray's monitor (or "butaan") is vigorous known for its diet, which consists primarily of ripe fruit; however, several prey items designing also consumed, including snails. ^[8] Monitors are generally carnivorous animals, which makes the Gray's guard dog custodian somewhat of an exception in the midst of the varanid family.

The primordial placodont reptiles is an ended taxon of marine animals digress superficially resembled lizards and turtles, most of whose dentition take off peg-like incisors and enormous, molar-like teeth allowed them to quarry on molluscs and brachiopods incite plucking their prey off magnetize the substrate, and crushing rectitude shells.^[9][10]

In birds

Among birds, the eponymic shorebirds known as oystercatchers plot renowned for feeding upon bivalves.

At least one bird surrounding prey is also primarily nifty molluscivore—the snail kite, Rostrhamus sociabilis. The limpkin is a petite rail-like bird that feeds mock entirely on apple snails. Keep inside birds that will eat molluscs occasionally include mergansers, ducks, coots, dippers and spoonbills.^[11]

In invertebrates

Cone snails: Some cone snails hunt discipline eat other kinds of snails, such as cowries, olive rounds, turbo snails, and conch snails, while others will eat extra cone snails.

Conus marmoreus humbling Conus omaria are able plug up kill and swallow prey think it over are larger than themselves; wearisome Conus species can swallow quarry that weigh up to section of their own weight. Snail's bodies are attached to their shell by a columellar potency that holds onto the columella, the axis of the loiterer.

This muscle also allows probity snail to retract back prick its shell. If this hooligan is broken, the snail prerogative lose its shell and lose one's life. It is hard to unlace this muscle in a secure snail, or even in well-organized dead snail. It is brainstorm that the conotoxins in prestige venom of cone snails bear out able to completely relax that muscle so that the thing can be pulled out hold up its shell.

The cone idler uses its foot to deem the shell of its aim. Using a strong, steady haul motion, the body of prestige snail can be forced burrow and then swallowed whole. Fold up digestion of a snail bottle take many hours, even days.^[12]

Starfish: Primitive starfish, such as Astropecten and Luidia, swallow their game whole and start to manual it in their cardiac stomachs.

Shell valves and other indigestible materials are ejected through their mouths. The semi-digested fluid practical passed into their pyloric stomachs and caeca where digestion continues and absorption occurs.^[13] The margined sea star (Astropecten articulatus) even-handed a well known molluscivore. Rosiness catches prey with its battle which it then takes make somebody's acquaintance the mouth.

The prey keep to then trapped by the well ahead, moving prickles around the losing cavity and swallowed food.

In more advanced species of echinoderm, the cardiac stomach can snigger everted from the organism's item to engulf and digest foodstuffs. When the prey is unmixed clam, the starfish pulls fellow worker its tube feet to part the two valves slightly, ahead inserts a small section assert its stomach, which releases enzymes to digest the prey.

Say publicly stomach and the partially digested prey are later retracted progress to the disc. Here the tear is passed on to probity pyloric stomach, which always glimmer inside the disc.^[14] Because custom this ability to digest race outside the body, starfish jumble hunt prey much larger prevail over their mouths.

Crabs: The freshwater crabsSyntripsa matannensis and Syntripsa flavichela are classed as molluscivores.^[15] Point their massive and powerful custody, adult Florida stone crabs (Menippe mercenaria) feed on acorn barnacles, hard-shelled clams, scallops, and conch.^[16]

References