One Indian Melon Shell, measuring 4 to 6 inches *****

One Indian Melon Shell, measuring 4 to 6 inches.

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Melo melo, common name the Indian volute orIndian Melon Shell

Melo melo, common name the Indian volute or bailer shell, is a very large edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes (Bail, P. (2009). "World Register of Marine Species").

These species are restricted to Southeast Asia, from Burma, Thailand and Malaysia, to the South China Sea and the Philippines.

These large sea snail are known to live in littoral and shallow sublittoral zones. It usually dwells in muddy bottoms at a maximum depth of nearly 66 feet.

Melo melo are known to be carnivorous, as laboratory experiments have shown. It is a specialized predator of other continental shelf predatory gastropods, notably Hemifusus tuba (Melongenidae) and Babylonia lutosa (Buccinidae). They are also a known predator of the dog conch, Strombus canarium (Strombidae)(Cob, Z. C; Arshad, A; Bujang, J. S; Ghaffar, M. A. (2009). "Age, Growth, Mortality and Population Structure of Strombus canarium(Gastropoda: Strombidae): Variations in Male and Female Sub-Populations". Journal of Applied Sciences 9 (18), 3287–3297. )

The maximum shell length of this species is up to 275 mm, commonly to 175 mm.

The large shell of Melo melo has a bulbous or nearly oval outline, with a smooth outer surface presenting distinguishable growth lines. The outside of shell color is commonly pale orange, sometimes presenting irregular banding of brown spots, while the interior is glossy cream, becoming light yellow near its margin. The columella has three or four long and easily distinguishable columellar folds.It has a wide aperture, nearly as long as the shell itself, yet this species is known to have no operculum. The shell's spire is completely enclosed by the body whorl, which is inflated and quite large, and has a rounded shoulder with no spines. The apex is of smooth type.(Poutiers, J. M. (1998). Gastropods in: FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes: The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific Volume 1. Seaweeds, corals, bivalves and gastropods. Rome, FAO, 1998. p. 598.)