Vision
S. luhuanus individuals have highly developed eyes on the end of long and very mobile pedicles (figure 1(Savazzi, 1991). When a threat is detected (in the form of movement), columellar muscles contract rapidly and pull the eyes back under the shell (Savazzi, 1991). A single downward facing tentacle is located halfway along each pedicle, and these are used to assist the individual to sense the environement below it (Savazzi, 1991).
The irises are a dark black colour and can act as a deterrant by mimicking the eyes of more advanced organisms (Savazzi, 1991). The left eye protrudes throught the siphonal canal, while the right eye protrudes throught the stromboid notch (Savazzi, 1991).
It has been suggested that the eye pedicle morphology of strombid gastropods has had very little change throughout the cenozoic (Savazzi, 1991).
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Figure 1: A group of S. luhuanus individuals on a coral boulder. Note their eyes on pedicels and the tentacles located on their eye stalks |
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