Triton's Trumpet

Triton's Trumpet
Photo source: https://en.wikipedia.org/

Triton's Trumpet
Kingdom: Animalia 
Phylum: Mollusca 
Class: Gastropoda 
Superfamily: Tonnoidea 
Family: Ranellidae 
Subfamily: Cymatiinae 
Genus: Charonia 
Species: C. tritonis 
Scientific Name: Charonia tritonis


  Triton's Trumpet or Giant Trumpet are the common names given to Charonia tritonis. This is a species of very large sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Ranellidae. This shell can reach up to two feet (or 60 cm) in shell length making it one of the biggest mollusks in the coral reef.
  Generally found throughout the Indo-Pacific ocean and is well known as a decorative object. It is sometimes modified for use as a trumpet by removing the snail and cutting off the tip of the spire through which air is blown to create a trumpeting sound. 

A live Charonia tritonis, or Triton's Trumpet
Photo source: https://c4.staticflickr.com

  Charonia tritonis feeds on the "crown of thorns" starfish. This starfish can propagate to "plague" proportions along the Great Barrier reef especially, killing off large areas of reefs. Some scientists speculate these plagues occur when there is over-harvesting of the Charonia tritonis creating an imbalance in the reef system and leaving the destructive starfish unabated as it devours the living organisms which make up the reef.