Ergalatax contracta explained

Ergalatax contracta, the contracted rock shell, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or rock snails.

Description

The shell size varies between 20 mm and 45 mm.

Distribution

This species is distributed in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, in the Indian Ocean along Madagascar and as a non-indigenous species in the Mediterranean Sea; in the Pacific Ocean along the Philippines, the Sulu Archipelago, Australia (the Torres Strait), Hawaii and Tonga.

References

• Dautzenberg, Ph. (1929). Mollusques testaces marins de Madagascar. Faune des Colonies Francaises, Tome III
• Vine, P. (1986). Red Sea Invertebrates. Immel Publishing, London. 224 pp
• Streftaris, N.; Zenetos, A.; Papathanassiou, E. (2005). Globalisation in marine ecosystems: the story of non-indigenous marine species across European seas. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Annu. Rev. 43: 419–453