Appearance
"Terebralia palustris" is the largest mangrove gastropod, with a maximum shell length of 190 mm recorded from Arnhem Land, Australia.The head and foot are typically dark brown while the snout and tips of the cephalic tentacles are black. In females, a ciliated groove on the right side of the foot leads to a large, bulbous white ovipositor which is situated internally near the base of the foot.
The hemocyanin of this species was analyzed by Lieb et al. in 2010. Its mega-hemocyanin have unusually high oxygen affinities.
Distribution
This species has the widest distribution range of any "Terebralia" species. Its Western Pacific distribution extends south from the Ryukyus to the Philippines and across Borneo, New Guinea and tropical Australia. Eastwards, "T. palustris" is found as far as Palau as well the New Hebrides and New Caledonia.The Indian Ocean occurrence of "Terebralia palustris" includes mangrove habitats throughout Indonesia and regions of South East Asia including India and Ceylon. The species has also been reported from the Andaman Islands, Nicobar, the Maldives, Mauritius, the Seychelles, the Amirantes and Madagascar. "Terebralia palustris" also occurs along the tropical and subtropical East African coastline including Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique. The southern global distribution limit for this species is along the eastern subtropical coastline of South Africa. The northward extension of the African distribution is as far as the Red Sea.
Habitat
It lives in the mud in mangrove forests. "Terebralia palustris" is a predominantly mangrove-associated species.References:
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