''Astele armillata'' 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 ...

, a

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

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 ...

Calliostomatidae Calliostomatidae is a family of sea snails within the superfamily Trochoidea and the clade Vetigastropoda.Gofas, S. (2013). Calliostomatidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetail ...

.Rosenberg, G. (2012). ''Astele armillata'' (Wood, 1828). Accessed through:

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific specialist ...

at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=467141 on 2012-12-07

Description

The length of this shell varies between 25 mm and 38 mm. The shell has a strictly conical shape. It is carinated, imperforate, and thin but rather solid. It is very pale yellowish or pinkish, with irregular, rather pale vertical bands of light yellowish-brown, often broken into maculations, and radiating on the base. The surface is shining, with numerous spiral granose lirae. There are seven lirae on the penultimate whorm, on the antepenultimate, and on the upper surface of the

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk. In gastropods In gastropods, the b ...

. And sometimes these three whorls (or the last one) show interstitial threads between the granose lirae. The flat base of the shell has 12 or 13 concentric lirae, the several inner ones stronger, decidedly beaded, the 3 or 4 outer more separated, less beaded. The angular periphery is formed of a double beaded ridge, and on some specimens this projects a little at the sutures of the

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

. The spire is conic, elevated, with straight lateral outlines. The shell contains nine

whorls 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 d ...

. The smooth apex is subacute. The two earlier whorls follow the apical are trilirate. The body whorl is angular at periphery, flat beneath, indented in the center around the insertion of the columella. 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 ...

is rhomboidal, oblique, angled on the outer part, above the angle thickened inside by a heavy callus or pearly submarginal deposit. The columella is oblique, arcuate and a trifle toothed at base.Tryon (1889), Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
(described as Calliostoma meyeri)

Distribution

This marine species occurs off

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, off

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and off

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

References

* Hombron J.B. & Jacquinot H. (1848 ovember. Atlas d'Histoire Naturelle. Zoologie par MM. Hombron et Jacquinot, chirurgiens de l'expédition. in: Voyage au Pôle Sud et dans l'Océanie sur les corvettes l'Astrolabe et la Zélée pendant les années 1837-1838-1839-1840 sous le commandement de M. Dumont-D'Urville capitaine de vaisseau publié sous les auspices du département de la marine et sous la direction supérieure de M. Jacquinot, capitaine de Vaisseau, commandant de La Zélée. Vingt-cinquiéme livraison. Mollusques pls 14, 16, 19, 22; Insectes lépidoptéres pl. 3.

External links

Philippi, R. A. (1849). Centuria altera testaceorum novorum. Zeitschrift für Malakozoologie. 5(7): 99-112

Adams, A. (1855). Further contribution towards the natural history of the Trochidae: with the description of a new genus and several new species, from the Cumingian collection. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. (1854) 22: 37-41, pl. 27

To Encyclopedia of Life

To World Register of Marine Species
*
To Jeweled Top Shell (Astele armillata) - Tomahawk, Tasmania

To A Guide to the Seashells and other Marine Molluscs of Tasmania web-site
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4810595 armillata Gastropods described in 1828