Giant triton snail salivary gland

The giant triton snail (Charonia tritonis) is one of the few natural predators of the adult Crown-of-Thorns starfish (COTS), a corallivore that has been damaging to many reefs in the Indo Pacific. In this study, we describe the behaviour associated with C. tritonis COTS predation. Following an anatomical analysis of the C. tritonis salivary gland, we have performed next-generation transcriptome sequencing and annotation of ensuing transcripts in association with proteomic analyses. We report for the first time the existence of numerous secreted proteins, including a diverse array of putative toxin- and feeding-like protein families in C. tritonis.