Callianax biplicata (G. B. Sowerby I 1825)

Callianax biplicata, common names the purple dwarf olive, purple olive shell, or purple olivella is a species of small predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Olividae, the olives. ^[1]

Distribution

Callianax biplicata snails are found in the Eastern Pacific Ocean coasts from British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico.^[2]

Habitat

This species is common on sandy substrates intertidally and subtidally, in bays and the outer coast.^[2]

Life habits

Three specimen of Callianax biplicata.

These snails are carnivorous or omnivorous sand-burrowers.

Shell description

This shell of this species is quite solid, and large for an Olivella, with adult shells ranging from 20 mm to 27 mm in length, about one inch. The shell is smooth, shiny, and is an elongated oval in shape. The shell is often some shade of greyish purple, but it can also be whitish, tan, or dark brown. On the darker color forms there is often some rich yellow above the suture on the spire.

At the anterior end of the long narrow aperture there is a siphonal notch, from which the siphon of the living animal protrudes.

• 

  Callianax biplicata, a pale individual

• 

  Callianax biplicata, the dark morph

'Hermit crab using the shell of Callianax biplicata

Human use

Native people of central and southern California used the shell of this species to make decorative beads for at least the last 9,000 years.^[3] Such beads have been discovered in archaeological contexts as far inland as Idaho and Arizona.^[4] Within the past 1,000 years these beads began to be manufactured in large quantities on southern California's Santa Barbara Channel Islands, indicating that they were used for shell money.^[5] The historic Chumash people called them anchum.^[6]

Notes

References

• Arnold, J.E. and A.P. Graesch. 2001. The Evolution of Specialized Shellworking Among the Island Chumash. In The Origins of a Pacific Coast Chiefdom: the Chumash of the Channel Islands, edited by J.E. Arnold, pp. 71–112. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
• Bennyhoff, James A. and Richard E. Hughes. 1987. Shell Bead and Ornament Exchange Networks between California and the Western Great Basin. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 64:79-175.
• Fitzgerald, Richard T., Terry L. Jones, and Adele Schroth. 2005. Ancient Long Distance Trade in Western North America: New AMS Radiocarbon Dates from Southern California. Journal of Archaeological Science 32:423-434.
• McLean, J.H. (2007) Gastropoda. In Carlton, J.T. (Ed.) Light and Smith's Manual. Intertidal Invertebrates of the Central California Coast. University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 713-753
• Powell II, C. L.; Vervaet, F.; Berschauer, D. (2020). A taxonomic review of California Holocene Callianax (Olivellidae:Gastropoda:Mollusca) based on shell characters. The Festivus. Supplement - special issue, 1-38.

La aceituna enana, aceituna púrpura o caracol de cuentas (Olivella biplicata), es una especie de caracol de mar de la familia Olivellidae.

Distribución

Se encuentra en las costas del oriente del océano Pacífico, desde Columbia Británica (Canadá) hasta Baja California (México).^[1]​

Hábitat

Se encuentra comúnmente entre la arena en substratos intermareales y submareales, tanto en las bahías como en la costa abierta.^[1]​

Alimentación

Es una especie preferentemente carnívora, pero se considera omnívora. Excava en la arena para buscar su comida

Olivella biplicata

Descripción de la concha

La concha de los ejemplares adultos mide entre 20 mm y 27 mm de longitud. Es sólida, lisa, brillante y con forma de óvalo alargado. Presenta líneas delgadas de colores púrpura y grisáceo, a veces azuleadas, blanquecinas, plateadas o marrón oscuro. En los ejemplares de color más oscuro formas a menudo hay una franja circular amarilla o anaranjada encima de la sutura de la aguja, alrededor de la cual generalmente hay anillos delgados negruzcos y blancuzcos.

En el extremo posterior de la abertura, larga y estrecha, hay una muesca sifonal, de la que sobresale el sifón en el animal vivo.

Pagurus en una concha de Olivella biplicata.

Las conchas del caracol muerto pueden ser utilizadas por los cangrejos ermitaños del género Pagurus.

Joya y moneda indígena

Los aborígenes del centro y sur de California usaban las conchas de esta especie para fabricar cuentas de collares decorativos, desde hace por lo menos 9.000 años.^[2]​ En contextos arqueológicos, estos collares han sido hallados en regiones distantes del mar, como Idaho y Arizona.^[3]​ Desde el año 1000, comenzaron fabricarse en grandes cantidades en el sur de California, en las islas del Canal de Santa Bárbara, y fueron usadas como moneda en las redes comerciales indígenas.^[4]​ Los chumash los llaman anchum.^[5]​

Notas

Referencias

• Arnold, J.E. and A.P. Graesch. 2001. The Evolution of Specialized Shellworking Among the Island Chumash. In The Origins of a Pacific Coast Chiefdom: the Chumash of the Channel Islands, edited by J.E. Arnold, pp. 71-112. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
• Bennyhoff, James A. and Richard E. Hughes. 1987. Shell Bead and Ornament Exchange Networks between California and the Western Great Basin. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 64:79-175.
• Fitzgerald, Richard T., Terry L. Jones, and Adele Schroth. 2005. Ancient Long Distance Trade in Western North America: New AMS Radiocarbon Dates from Southern California. Journal of Archaeological Science 32:423-434.