This shell varies in colour from beige to dark brown, and the whitish markings are quite variable, which may account for the large number of synonyms that exist. The shell is pear-shaped, with a moderately blunt apex; the wide, flared aperture with a thin lip occupies about three quarters of the length of the shell. The umbilicus is open and the columella twisted. The surface of the shell is finely striated, with shallow grooves between the ribs. The largest whorl has about twenty ribs, and there is no operculum. The maximum shell length is about 15 cm (6 in). In living animals, the mantle is white with brown markings, and flares widely as the animal moves about. The snail could be confused with Tonna galea, but that species is more globular with a blunter apex; another similar species is Eudolium bairdii, but that is usually found at much greater depths. Tonna perdix is a similar species from the Pacific Ocean, and the two may be part of a species complex.[4]
Distribution and habitat
Tonna pennata is found in shallow water in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico and in the eastern Atlantic in the Canary Islands, Madeira and the West African coast.[4] It is usually found in reef areas, on coral and rock, and in sandy areas and seagrass meadows.[3]
The minimum recorded depth for this species is 0 m; the maximum recorded depth is 13 m.[5]
Ecology
Tonna pennata is a predator, specialising in sea cucumbers, particularly those in the family Stichopodidae. It also preys on bivalve molluscs and fish. It has a long eversible proboscis, with which it envelops smaller prey, or presses the organ against larger prey, secreting saliva containing sulphuric acid which paralyses its victim and starts the digestive processes. It attacks prey much larger than itself, such as the slow-moving sea cucumber Isostichopus badionotus, which can grow to a length of 50 cm (20 in).[4] The sea cucumber has developed a strategy for getting rid of its attacker. It stiffens the area round the injury which then softens, and muscular contractions cause a patch of integument to autotomise (come away from its body).[4]
References
^Mörch O. A. (1853). Catalogus Conchyliorum quae reliquit D. Alphonso D'Aguirra & Gadea, comes de Yoldi, regis Daniae cubiculariorum princeps, ordinis Dannebrogici in prima classe & ordinis Caroli Tertii eques. Fasciculus primus. Cephalophora. Haec conchylia publica auctione calendis octobribus dividentur. L. Klein, Copenhague Vol. 1 (1852), 170 p. vol. 2, [IV] + 76 p. [post 1 aprile 1853].
^ abBieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O, eds. (2021). "Tonna pennata (Mörch, 1853)". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
