📸 PhotoPhoto: George Chernilevsky · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons Source
Veined rapa whelk
Rapana venosa (Veined rapa whelk · アカニシ)
Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List yet.
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its maximum shell height of 16.1 cm is just under twice the long side of a credit card (about 8.6 cm) (Comparison).
- 💡 It is a commercially harvested species (SeaLifeBase).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The veined rapa whelk is a large predatory sea snail living on coastal bottoms of the Northwest Pacific. It is also an invasive species that has spread to the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Black Sea.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It is a large sea snail with a shell height reaching up to 16.1 cm.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It is a predatory sea snail whose juveniles and adults are preyed upon by loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta). Tolerant of changes in temperature, salinity, and oxygen, its larvae disperse on ocean currents and establish themselves well in new seas.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is listed on the National List of Species of Korea under the name Pippul-godung (Korean name).
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List: not evaluated (NE) — cross-checked with the Wikidata conservation-status entry
- • marinespecies.org — aphia.php
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000042364 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000042364
- • wikidata.org — Q139053
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Rapana Black Sea 2008 G1.jpg
- • sealifebase.se — Rapana-venosa.html
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Karla Martinez · CC BY 3.0 (Related taxon silhouette — Muricidae)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.