Frog
snail
Bufonaria sp.
Family Bursidae
updated
Oct 10
Where
seen? Although the shells are often seen (usually occupied
by hermit crabs), living snails are rarely seen. Usually at the lowest
tides near seagrass meadows on our Northern and Eastern shores. Apparently,
the name is due to the warty texture of the shell.
Features: 4-6cm. The thick shell
is conical with many regular bumps and blunt spines. There is a short
tubular tip on the shell for the siphon. The operculum is of a horn-like
material and is thin and flexible. It has a long muscular foot.
The Common frog snail (Bufonaria rana) is about 7.5cm long
and found on mud or muddy-sand bottoms.
What does it eat? Some species
appear appear to feed on tube worms. These have an extendible proboscis
and large salivary glands, that are probably used to anaesthetize
the worms in their tubes; the worms are then sucked out and swallowed
whole.
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East Coast, Nov 08

Muscular foot with operculum.
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Tentacles and siphon.
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Frog
snails on Singapore shores

Changi, Jul 08
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Short siphonal canal.
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Long muscular foot.
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Changi, May 09
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East Coast, May 09
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East Coast, Jul 09
Photo shared by Loh Kok Sheng on his
blog.
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Family
Bursidae recorded for Singapore
from
Tan Siong Kiat and Henrietta P. M. Woo, 2010 Preliminary Checklist
of The Molluscs of Singapore.
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Bufonaria
perelegans
Bufonaria rana=Bursa rana |
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