Predatory shell drilling of bivalve mollusc shells is reported for the gastropods Austroginella johnstoni and A. muscaria from south‐eastern Australia. This is the first record of this feeding behaviour in the family Marginellidae. The drill holes are circular and paraboloid, with a small inner penetration hole. The corroded nature of the aragonite crystals within the drill holes suggests a chemical dissolution drilling mechanism. No obvious accessory boring organ was located. The gastropods have subepithelial gland cells in the proboscis, a pair of small salivary glands and a large foregut gland. The latter has a duct bypassing the valve of Leiblein and joining the anterior oesophagus.
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Ponder et al. (1992) studied this question.
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