Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda, Caenogastropoda Nucella ostrina Order: Neogastropoda The rock-dwelling Family: Muricoidea, Muricidae, Ocenebrinae emarginated dogwinkle Taxonomy: Nucella was previously called Anterior (Siphonal) Canal: Short: less Thais. Thais is now reserved for subtropical than 1/4 aperture length: species ostrina and tropical species. For a more detailed (Kozloff 1974) (Fig. 1); canal narrow, slot-like, review of gastropod taxonomy, see Keen not spout-like; not separated from large whorl and Coan (1974) and McLean (2007). Nu- by revolving groove. cella. ostrina has mistakenly been called N. Umbilicus: Closed (McLean 2007). emarginata though it has now been found Aperture: Wide; length more than 1/2 that the two species diverged in the late shell length (Oldroyd 1924). Ovate in outline, Pleistocene epoch (Marko et al. 2003) with a short anterior canal but no posterior notch (Fig. 1). Description Outer Lip: Thin, crenulate, not thick Size: Rarely over 30 mm (Kozloff 1974), and layered (Oldroyd 1924). No denticles or usually up to 20 mm (Puget Sound); up to anal notch on posterior (upper) end, no single 40 mm, but rarely over 30 mm (California) strong tooth near anterior canal. No row(s) or (Abbott and Haderlie 1980); illustrated speci- denticles within lip. men (Coos Bay) 20 mm. Females slightly Operculum: Dark brown with nucleus larger than males (average 18.9 and 17.8) on one side (Fig. 2). (Houston 1971). Eggs: Pale yellow, vase-shaped, about 6 mm Color: Exterior brown and dingy white, dirty high, in clusters of up to 300 capsules (Abbott gray, yellow or almost black (if diet of mus- and Haderlie 1980) (Fig. 4). Each capsule sels); yellow, black or gray periostracum in with 500-600 eggs. Each capsule with a longi- grooves between ridges; ridges sometimes tudinal suture and a hard clear escape aper- white (black in this specimen). Interior: aper- ture. ture and columella chestnut brown or purple. Shell: Possible Misidentifications Shape: Fusiform; short spire, ex- Snails of the genus Nucella can be panded whorl. Shell thin, not heavy. 3-4 distinguished from other carnivorous estua- whorls; nuclear whorl inconspicuous. rine gastropods by their sculpture (the same Sculpture: Spire relatively high, par- on both spire and whorls), by the large body tial nub of aperture lacking (McLean 2007); whorl and by the large ovate aperture. Other alternating large and small spiral ridges over genera with a siphonal notch, and generally most of shell, can be nodulose; sometimes fusiform shape include: ridges are obscure and surface is fairly Olivella and Buccinum, which have col- smooth. Axial sculpture wrinkled, not promi- umellar folds; nent. Ocenebra and Ceratostoma which Columella: Sunken and concave, have a spout-like siphonal canal, not a narrow arched and flattened below: species ostrina; -slot-like one as in Nucella; no folds, (Fig. 1). Tritia reticulata and Lirabuccinum Suture: Not deep (Fig. 1). dirum which have a distinct revolving furrow A publication of the University of Oregon Libraries and the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology Individual species: https://oimb.uoregon.edu/oregon-estuarine-invertebrates and full 3rd edition: http://hdl.handle.net/1794/18839 Email corrections to: [email protected] Bering, N., T. Hext and E. Parker. 2017. Nucella ostrina. In: Oregon Estuarine Invertebrates: Rudys' Illustrated Guide to Common Species, 3rd ed. T.C. Hiebert, B.A. Butler and A.L. Shanks (eds.). University of Oregon Libraries and Oregon Institute of Marine Biol- ogy, Charleston, OR. or fossa setting off the anterior canal from horizontal ridges themselves are not alternat- the body whorl; (Lirabuccinum has spiral ing large and small (compare Fig. 2, N. lamel- sculpture only on the body whorl; the spire losa in this guide). Nucella lamellosa inhabits has both spiral and axial ribs); Acanthina much quieter waters, as a rule, and a lower (also from the family Thaisidae), which has a tidal range than does N. ostrina. Its color is strong tooth on the anterior end of the outer usually lighter; it is rarely blackish. lip. A fourth species of Nucella, Nucella There are three other species of Nu- emarginata though not found in our area can cella in our area. Two are not typically found easily be confused with N. ostrina because in estuarine conditions, but they do look they are morphologically cryptic. See Marko quite a bit like N. ostrina: et al. (2003) for a more detailed discussion. Nucella lima, the file dogwinkle, is Ecological Information subtidal, short-spired, and fairly rare. It is Range: Bering Sea south to northern Baja whitish to brown, with about 15 alternating California, but rare below Pt. Conception large and small file-like spiral ridges on the (Abbott and Haderlie 1980). large whorl. It can be up to 43 mm, some- Local Distribution: Coos Bay: marine por- what larger than N. ostrina. tions, i.e. near bay mouth up to Fossil Point. Nucella canaliculata, the channeled Habitat: Almost entirely on rocky shores; in dogwhelk, has a high spire and a prominent fairly heavy surf (Ricketts and Calvin 1971); shoulder below the deep suture. It is light also in semi-protected areas (Houston 1971). (white to orange), and sometimes banded. Outer shores in mussel beds, on jetties. Its 14-16 spiral ridges are very evenly Salinity: Full seawater; collected at 30. shaped and spaced. It is an inhabitant of Temperature: Cold to temperate waters: outer shore mussel beds. Larger than N. os- small animals high in tidal range show great trina, it averages 26.5 mm (male) and 24.8 thermal resistance, active at range of 0-30°C mm (female) (California) (Houston 1971). (Bertness and Schneider 1976). The third species, Nucella lamellosa Tidal Level: Ubiquitous intertidal predators, (see description in this guide), is the most found from mid to high intertidal zones (Moran common dogwinkle in the northwest, quite and Emlet 2001). common in bays and estuaries, and one of Associates: Primary prey is barnacles, espe- its many variations is very like N. ostrina. N. cially Balanus; mussel Mytilus; Pisaster lamellosa can have strong axial ruffles, be ochraceus. Commensal flatworm Nexilis quite smooth, or have strong horizontal ribs. epichitonius found in specimens on Coos Bay In this last case, it is difficult to distinguish entrance jetty (Holliman and Hand 1962). from N. ostrina. N. lamellosa has a higher Weight: 1.5 gm (wet). spire (usually 5-7 whorls, including the tiny Abundance: Common to abundant (McLean nuclear whorl); it is heavy, with a thick- 2007); much less common in inner bay than layered lip, not a thin crenulated one. There N. lamellosa (Coos Bay). is usually at least one row of denticles inside the lip in N. lamellosa; its anterior canal is Life-History Information longer than that of N. ostrina (more than 1/4 Reproduction: Found to spawn year-round in aperture length). While N. lamellosa can Bodega Bay, Calif. and throughout Oregon, have strong spiral ridges, the body whorl in but most activity is in November-February. this species is then often flattened and an- Little hermaphroditism (Houston 1971). gled, not expanded as in N. ostrina, and the Spawning is not salinity, photoperiod or tem- A publication of the University of Oregon Libraries and the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology Individual species: https://oimb.uoregon.edu/oregon-estuarine-invertebrates and full 3rd edition: http://hdl.handle.net/1794/18839 Email corrections to: [email protected] perature-related (Houston 1971). Females 1980. Prosobranchia: marine snails, p.230 gregarious (groups to 20), deposit egg cap- -307. In: Intertidal invertebrates of Califor- sules in clusters. Each female lays 8-9 cap- nia. R.H. MORRIS, D. P. ABBOTT, and E. sules; stalked capsules have about 200-300 C. HADERLIE (eds.). Stanford University eggs each (ibid), many of which may be Press, Stanford, California. sterile nurse eggs which are consumed by 2. BERTNESS, M. D., and D. E. SCHNEI- developing larvae. Veligers swim in capsule DER. 1976. Temperature relations of Pu- fluid and metamorphose into snails about get Sound thaids in reference to their inter- 1.1 mm long, emerging from plug at top of tidal distribution. The Veliger. 19:47-78. capsule (ibid). Pacific Northwest hatchlings 3. DAWSON, M. N., HAYS, C. G., GROS- number about 10-20 per capsule average; BERG, R. K., and RAIMONDI, P. T. 2014. Bodega Bay about 5% hatch (10-15) (ibid). Dispersal potential and population genetic Larva: Four distinct stages: advanced shell structure in the marine intertidal of the measures 775µ long (LeBoeuf 1971) (Fig. Eastern North Pacific. Ecological Mono- 5). graphs. 84.3: 435-456. Juvenile: 4. HOLLIMAN, J. T., and C. HAND. 1962. A Longevity: 5-10 years (Dawson et al. 2014). new species, genus, and family of marine Growth Rate: Pacific Northwest: 2.5-3 flatworms (Turbellaria: Tricladia, Maricola) months from egg deposition to hatching; commensal with mollusks. The Veliger. possibly more rapid development farther 5:20-22. south (Abbott and Haderlie 1980). 5. HOUSTON, R. S. 1971. Reproductive biol- Food: Prefers mussels Mytilus edulis and M. ogy of Thais emarginata (Deshayes 1839) californianus; also barnacles Balanus, Polli- and Thais canaliculata (Duclos 1832). The cipes, Chthamalus; limpet Lottia, as well as Veliger. 13:348-357 herbivorous gastropods Tegula funebralis 6. KEEN, A. M. and E.V. COAN. 1974. Ma- and Littorina. Feeding is by drilling with the rine molluscan genera of Western North radula, inserting the proboscis, and feeding America; an illustrated key. 2d ed. Stan- on the soft body within. Species N. ostrina ford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. shows a wide food preference, but individu- 7. KOZLOFF, E.N. 1974. Keys to the marine als seem to be consistent in diet (Abbott and invertebrates of Puget Sound, the San Haderlie 1980). Juan Archipelago, and adjacent regions.