Nassarius
| Nassarius | |
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| A live individual of Nassarius tiarula | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| (unranked): | clade Caenogastropoda clade Hypsogastropoda clade Neogastropoda |
| Superfamily: | Buccinoidea |
| Family: | Nassariidae |
| Subfamily: | Nassariinae |
| Genus: |
Nassarius Dumeril, 1806 |
| Type species | |
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Nassarius (Nassarius) arcularius arcularius Linnaeus, C., 1758 |
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| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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See text
Nassarius, common name nassa mud snails (USA) or dog whelks (UK), is a genus of minute to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Nassariidae. They are scavengers.
The name is derived from the Latin word "nassa", meaning a wickerbasket with a narrow neck, for catching fish. Nassarius would then mean "someone who uses such a wickerbasket for catching fish".
Species within this genus are found worldwide. These snails usually live on mud flats or sand flats, intertidally or subtidally.
Most Nassarius species are very active scavengers, feeding on crabs and carrion as dead fish, etc. They often burrow into marine substrates and then wait with only their siphon protruding, until they smell nearby food.
The shells of species in this genus have a relatively high cyrtoconoid (approaching a conical shape but with convex sides) spire and a siphonal notch.
The animal has a long siphon.
Several beads made from Nassarius gibbosulus shells are thought to be the earliest known forms of personal adornment, or even jewelry. Two shell beads found in Skhul Cave on the slopes of Mount Carmel, Israel are thought to be 100,000 years old, whilst another found at Oued Djebbana, Algeria is believed to be 90,000 years old. A further group of pierced shells, some with red ochre, has been recovered from the Aterian levels at the Taforalt site in Morocco; these Nassarius gibbosulus beads have been securely dated to about 82,000 years ago.
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Wikipedia