No photo available
Apple tun snail
Malea pomum
Valid name (WoRMS, AphiaID 217025, checked 2026-10-31).
- English
- Apple tun snail
- Scientific
- Malea pomum
- Dhivehi
- No recorded Dhivehi name
- Group
- Sea snails
- Family
- Tonnidae (tun shells)
- Maximum size
- Up to about 8 cm (length)
- Depth and habitat
- Sea floor (benthic), recorded from 5 to 30 m
- IUCN status
- NE · Not EvaluatedNot Evaluated (NE)
Description
The apple tun snail is a round, apple-shaped shell with strong spiral ribs, mottled brown and white, and a thick, toothed lip. It lives on sand in shallow water and hunts sea cucumbers and other invertebrates.
In the Maldives
Recorded from the Maldives: museum specimens (n=11); iNaturalist research-grade observations in the Maldives (n=24, 10 observers).
Sources
- sealifebase.se /summary/Malea-pomum.html
- marinespecies.org /aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=217025
- inaturalist.org /taxa/369110
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Malea_pomum_(Linné,_1758)_(4574793541).jpg
Dhivehi name source: No species-level Dhivehi name found in Dhivehi Wikipedia, SeaLifeBase (country: Maldives) or MRS/MMRI invertebrate publications.