Tiger Moon Snail

A gastropod shell of the family Nectariniidae in the class Gastropoda of the phylum Mollusca. Also known as the Usokurigai. Its shell is spherical, with a height and diameter of about 30 mm. The spiral layer is about seven stories long, and the shell opening is half-moon shaped and takes up about two-thirds of the total shell height, with a pale purple interior. The umbilical hole is wide, but the center is closed by a white umbilicus, giving it a C-shape. The shell surface is covered with yellow skin, but the bare skin of the shell is densely lined with black-purple spots. The lid is calcareous and half-moon shaped, with two grooves along the outer edge. It lives on sandy and muddy bottoms in inland bay environments in the western Pacific Ocean south of the Boso Peninsula, and is found from the intertidal zone to a depth of about 10 meters. It sometimes attacks cultivated shellfish. It is edible.

[Takashi Okutani]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

軟体動物門腹足綱タマガイ科の巻き貝。別名ヘソクリガイ。殻高、殻径ともおよそ30ミリメートルで球形。螺層(らそう)は約7階で、殻口は全殻高の約3分の2あり半月形、内側は淡紫色をしている。臍孔（へそあな）は広いが、白い臍盤(さいばん)で中心部がふさがれC形である。殻表は黄色い殻皮に覆われているが、殻の地肌には黒紫色斑(はん)が密に並ぶ。蓋(ふた)は石灰質で半月形、外縁に沿って2本の溝がある。房総半島以南の西太平洋域で内湾的環境の砂泥底にすみ、潮間帯から水深10メートルぐらいの所に分布する。ときには養殖貝類を荒らす。食用となる。

［奥谷喬司］

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