Maxacteon flammea
(Gmelin, 1791)
Order: CEPHALASPIDEA
Superfamily: ACTEONOIDEA
Family: Acteonidae
DISTRIBUTION
Found throughout the tropical Indo-West Pacific. In fine sand or sandy-mud, intertidally and subtidally.
PHOTO
Shell length: 17mm. Koumac, northern New Caledonia, October 1993. PHOTO: Bill Rudman.
This species seems to be variable in colour, with Maxacteon flammea being at one end of the colour range and Maxacteon fabreanus at the other.
If you compare this species with species of Pupa and species of Hydatina, it fits nicely between them in a number of characters. Its shell is thinner and more colourful than most species of Pupa and its body is becoming larger, relative to the size of the shell. The headshield is beginning to elaborate secondary tentacles, looking much more similar to Hydatina than Pupa.
Reference:
• Gmelin, J.F., (1791). In: Linnaeus, C., Systema Naturae, Ed.13. 1(6): 3021-4120.
Rudman, W.B., 1998 (December 18) Maxacteon flammea (Gmelin, 1791). [In] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/maxaflam
Related messages
Queensland Acteon?
October 21, 1999
From: Paula Mikkelsen
There's an unidentified acteonid from Queensland figured on the web at http://www.molluscs.net/whatisitf.htm. Looks close to Maxacteon flammea, but not quite. Any opinions from the locals?
Paula
mikkel@amnh.org
Mikkelsen, P., 1999 (Oct 21) Queensland Acteon?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/1439Dear Paula,
Bret Raines has sent me a copy of the photo from his developing website at http://www.molluscs.net. Well worth a visit, especially if you are interested in shells.
I think M. flammea ranges from this colour pattern to quite narrow curved lines. It does not seem to be that common, or we haven't yet found where it likes to live, so there aren't great numbers of specimens, even shells, to compare.
Bill Rudman.
