''Aguilaria subochracea'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Pseudomelatomidae Pseudomelatomidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropods included in the superfamily Conoidea (previously Conacea) and part of the Neogastropoda ( Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). In 1995 Kantor elevated the subfamily Pseudomelatomina ...

. It is the only species in the genus ''Aguilaria''.

Description

The length of the shell attains 39 mm, its diameter 11 mm. The elongate, fusiform, turreted shell is very characteristically coloured. The reddish-ochre colour is uniform, except where the transverse lirations (5 in the penultimate whorl and about 22 in the body whorl) cross the ribs or plications (14 in the body whorl), where they are white and slightly nodulous. The suture is well defined by the sudden termination of the ribs. The shell contains 13 convex

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...

s that are set back at the top. The

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

has a flesh colour. It is ovate at the top and ends in a mediocre elongated and recurved

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is ...

. It measures about 3/7 of the total length. The outer

lip The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

is rather incrassate and sinuate in the excavation. The

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...

is twisted, callous and shows a small tubercle at the top.Smith E.A. (1877). ''Diagnoses of new species of Pleurotomidae in the British Museum''. Annals and Magazine of Natural History. ser. 4, 19: 488–501
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Distribution

This species occurs in the "China seas" and off the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...

References

* Taylor J.D. & Wells F.E. (1994). A revision of the crassispirine gastropods from Hong Kong (Gastropoda: Turridae). In: B. Morton (ed.) The malacofauna of Hong Kong and southern China III . Proceedings of the Third International workshop on the malacofauna of Hong Kong and Southern China. 101–116 * Liu J.Y. uiyu(ed.). (2008). ''Checklist of marine biota of China sea''s. China Science Press. 1267 pp. * Li B.Q., Kilburn R.N., & Li X.Z. (2010). ''Report on Crassispirinae Morrison, (Mollusca: Neogastropoda: Turridae) from the China Seas''. Journal of Natural History. 44, 699–740

External links

*
Bouchet, P.; Kantor, Y. I.; Sysoev, A.; Puillandre, N. (2011). ''A new operational classification of the Conoidea (Gastropoda).'' Journal of Molluscan Studies. 77(3): 273–308
*
Specimen at MNHN, Paris
Pseudomelatomidae Monotypic gastropod genera {{Pseudomelatomidae-stub