Common Name: Partridge Tun

Distribution: Uncommon to rare in Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-West Pacific. In Australia recorded from central Western Australia, across the north to the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef in Queensland and south to northern New South Wales.

Ecological Notes: Frequents fine sandy bottoms from intertidal to subtidal. Depth to 50 m, usually 5 – 10 m.

Additional Notes: Large, globula, lightweight shell, foot dark with lighter mottling. Burrows beneath the sand leaving just the tip of the siphon exposed. Sometimes trawled, most active at night. Members of this family feed on holothurians. Grows to around 13 cm.

References: The Seashells of New South Wales, Des Beechey, Senior Fellow, Australian Museum, Release 25. Website at https://seashellsofnsw.org.au/Tonnidae/Pages/tonnidae_intro.htm#Coverage. Accessed 11/11/2018.

Palomares, M.L.D. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. SeaLifeBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.sealifebase.org, version (06/2018). https://www.sealifebase.ca/summary/Tonna-perdix.html. Accessed 11/11/2018.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Tonna+perdix. Accessed 11/11/2018.