Turbo coronatus

Invasion History

First Non-native North American Tidal Record:
First Non-native West Coast Tidal Record:
First Non-native East/Gulf Coast Tidal Record:

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General Invasion History:

Turbo coronatus has a wide native range from the Red Sea to South Africa, east to Japan, Korea, and Indonesia. It occurs in the intertidal zone among rocks and gravel (Poutiers 1998; Kil et al. 2005; Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 2014a, b; Museum of Comparative Zoology 2014). It was found on newly planted oysters in Samish Bay, Washington in 1924, but has not been seen since in North American waters (Kincaid 1947, cited by Hanna 1966; Carlton 1979; Carlton 1992).

North American Invasion History:

Invasion History on the West Coast:

In 1924, Kincaid found specimens of Turbo coronatus to be fairly abundant in Samish Bay, Washington (WA) on newly planted Pacific Oysters (Crassostrea gigas) from Japan (Kincaid 1947 cited by Hanna 1966 and Carlton 1979). This snail may also have been found by Kincaid in oyster beds at Willapa Bay, WA (Hanna 1966, photo caption), but no details are known. Turbo coronatus was found in Japanese Oyster shipments about to be planted in Elkhorn Slough, California in the 1930s (Bonnot 1935, cited by Carlton 1979). There are no further records of T. coronatus in North American waters.

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Description

Turbo coronatus is a mid-sized marine snail, with a heavy, turban-shaped, dextrally coiled shell. The whorls and spirals of the shell are somewhat flattened, so the width of the shell exceeds its length. The shell is strongly sculptured, with large flattened cup-like scales, interspersed with regular rows of small nodules. The operculum is shelly and covered with granules. The shell is up to 55 mm in diameter. The color is pale greenish brown with purplish-brown markings. The operculum is green with lighter granules. Description from: Richmond 1997 cited by Appeltans et al. 2014, Poutiers 1998, and photos at http://bigai.world.coocan.jp/pic_book/data54/r005333.html.

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Taxonomy

Ecology

General:

Turbo coronatus, the Crown Moon Turban snail, is an herbivorous marine gastropod. Sexes are separate and fertilization is external. The eggs are laid in gelatinous masses and hatch into planktotrophic larvae. The Crown Moon Turban inhabits rocky and gravelly shores in the intertidal zone, and feeds on attached algae and plant detritus (Poutiers et al. 1998).

Food:

algae

Trophic Status:

Herbivore

Herb

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Habitats

General Habitat	Oyster Reef	None
General Habitat	Rocky	None
Salinity Range	Polyhaline	18-30 PSU
Salinity Range	Euhaline	30-40 PSU
Tidal Range	Subtidal	None
Tidal Range	Low Intertidal	None
Vertical Habitat	Epibenthic	None

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Tolerances and Life History Parameters

Maximum Width (mm)	55	Maximum width, but more commonly to 35 mm (Poutiers et al. 1998)
Broad Temperature Range	None	Warm temperate-tropical
Broad Salinity Range	None	Polyhaline-Euhaline

General Impacts

In its native range, Turbo coronatus is used for food, and the mother-of-pearl of its shell is locally used for shellcraft (Poutiers 1998). It has not become established in North American waters, and has had no economic and ecological impacts.

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References

Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 1998 Ichthyological Collection Catalog. <missing URL>



Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 2002-2024a Malacology Collection Search. <missing URL>



Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 2006-2014b OBIS Indo-Pacific Molluscan Database. <missing URL>



Appeltans, W. et al. 2011-2015 World Registry of Marine Species. <missing URL>



Carlton, James T. (1979) History, biogeography, and ecology of the introduced marine and estuarine invertebrates of the Pacific Coast of North America., Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Davis. Pp. 1-904

Hanna, G. Dallas (1966) Introduced mollusks of Western North America, Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences 48: <missing location>

Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology 2008-2021 Museum of Comparative Zoology Collections database- Malacology Collection. <missing URL>



Kil, Hyun Jong; Yoon, Sook Hee; Kim, Won; Choe, Byung Lae; Sohn, Hyun Joon; Park, Joong-Kee (2005) Faunistic investigation for marine mollusks in Jindo Island., Korean Journal of Systematic Zoology Special Issue 5: 29-46

Poutiers, J.M. (1998) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific., 1 Fisheries and Agricultural Organization, Rome. Pp. 363-648

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