Giant tun

Tonna galea

Molluscs
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth24–73 m
Water temperature18–29 °C
Best monthsJune, July, and September
How commonOccasional

About this species

Tonna galea, commonly known as the giant tun, is a species of marine gastropod mollusc in the family Tonnidae. This very large sea snail or tun snail is found in the North Atlantic Ocean as far as the coast of West Africa, in the Mediterranean Sea and the Caribbean Sea. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Tonna galea”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 9 records
February: 15 records
March: 19 records
April: 25 records
May: 22 records
June: 46 records
July: 28 records
August: 24 records
September: 29 records
October: 20 records
November: 19 records
December: 11 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 24–73 m · Deepest record: 200 m

0–10 m: 3 records
10–20 m: 7 records
20–30 m: 31 records
30–40 m: 35 records
40–50 m: 39 records
50–60 m: 33 records
60–70 m: 15 records
70–80 m: 16 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 4 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 3 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–29 °C

18–20 °C: 16 records
20–22 °C: 8 records
22–24 °C: 32 records
24–26 °C: 184 records
26–28 °C: 66 records
28–30 °C: 33 records

Names and classification

English: Giant tun, Tun shell, giant tun, Giant Tun, tun shell

Names in 3 more languages

German: Große Fassschnecke, Große Faßschnecke
Spanish: caracol tonel
French: dólium geant, tonne cannelée

Other scientific names: Buccinum galea, Buccinum olearium, Cadium galea, Cadium olearium, Cadus galea, Dolium (Dolium) galea, Dolium (Dolium) modjokasriense, Dolium antillarum, Dolium epidermata, Dolium galea, Dolium galeatum, Dolium modjokasriense, Dolium olearium, Dolium sagrae, Dolium tardina, Dolium tenue, Malea galea, Tonna (Tonna) galea, Tonna olearium

Similar species

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
723 open-data records from 1758 to 2020.

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