Ocean Giants: Australian Trumpet

If the largest bivalve is the giant clam Tridacna gigas (read article here), the largest gastropod on the other hand is the Australian trumpet Syrinx aruanus.

Photo from the Queensland Museum.

It is found from northern Australia and extends through the Indonesian Papua New Guinea. The largest recorded size measured 72.2 cm in shell length [1]. Based on its size, it can be deduced that this species is a predator. It hunts and feeds on polychaete worms, such as Polyodontes australiensis, Loimia ochracea, L. ingens and Diopatra sp. [2]. Apparently, this species is popularly used as an ornament and the demand for its shell increased over the past decades. Thus, the Australian government limited the amount of its catch for both commercial and recreational fishers [3]. Knowledge on its biology would be a help develop a way to prevent the decline of wild stocks. Unfortunately, little is known on the biology of  the Australian trumpet (to view the information we have, you may visit SeaLifeBase). Thus, if you have other information on them, which you wish to include in our information system, please e-mail us at sealifebase@fin.ph or join us as a collaborator.

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[1] McClain CR et al (2015) Sizing ocean giants: patterns of intraspecific size variation in marine megafauna. PeerJ 2:e715. Accessed from https://peerj.com/articles/715/
[2] Taylor JD and Glover EA (20030 Food of giants - field observations on the diet of Syrinx aruanus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Turbinellidae) the largest living gastropod. pp. 217-224. In Wells FE, Walker DI, and Jones DS (eds) The Marine Flora and Fauna of Dampier, Western Australia. Western Australian Museum, Perth.
[3] Weis A et al (2004) Ecological assessment of Queensland's marine specimen shell collection fishery. Report to the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage on the ecologically sustainable development management of a small scale, highly selective hand and shell dredge collection fishery. Accessed from http://155.187.2.69/coasts/fisheries/qld/marine-specimen-shell/pubs/marine-specimen-shell-submission.pdf


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