Ecology Laevistrombus canarium

one known predator of dog conch cloth-of-gold cone snail, conus textile.

during 19th century, strombid gastropods believed carnivores. erroneous conception based on writings of french naturalist jean baptiste lamarck, classification scheme grouped strombids carnivorous sea snails. subsequent studies have refuted concept, proving beyond doubt strombid gastropods herbivorous animals. in common other strombidae, laevistrombus canarium known herbivore, feeding on algae , detritus.

many carnivorous marine gastropods known predators of l. canarium, including volutes cymbiola nobilis , melo melo , cone snail (conus textile). dog conch preyed upon vertebrates. these include crab-eating macaque, macaca fascicularis, opportunistic predator scours intertidal environments. humans 1 of dog conch s main predators, subjecting species intensive fishing , exploitation.

life cycle

laevistrombus canarium gonochoristic, means each individual animal distinctly male or female. breeding season starts in late november , continues until march. after internal fertilization female produces , spawns long, gelatinous tubular structure containing multiple eggs. structure coils , compacts, forming creamy-white egg mass. each egg mass may contain 50,000–70,000 eggs; females lay them on seagrass, remain attached. in 110–130 hours embryo of l. canarium grows single cell veliger (a larval form common marine , fresh-water gastropod , bivalve mollusks) , hatches. hatching process takes 12–15 hours. after hatching, larvae can assigned 4 distinct developmental stages throughout short planktonic life (based on morphological features , other characteristics). usually, larvae 3 days old stage veligers; 4–8-day-old larvae stage ii; 9–16-day-old larvae stage iii, , larvae 17 days metamorphosis stage iv. l. canarium larvae develop faster compared other species in same family, including west indian fighting conch (strombus pugilis) , milk conch (lobatus costatus). larval development may highly influenced environmental conditions, such temperature , quality , availability of food. metamorphosis in l. canarium can recognised loss of larval velar lobes , development of typical leaping motion of juvenile true conches.

a study 2008 indicates sexual dimorphism occurs during species ontogeny. l. canarium males reach sexual maturity @ shorter shell length when compared females. individuals considered adult time outer lip of shell noticeably thickened , flared; growth adult size takes year. maximum life span of dog conch differs between sexes; estimated @ 2 , 2.5 years females , males, respectively.