''Astralium latispina'' 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 ...

of sea snail, a marine gastropod

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 group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Turbinidae Turbinidae, the turban snails, are a family of small to large marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Trochoidea.Bouchet, P. (2014). Turbinidae Rafinesque, 1815. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies ...

, the turban snails.Rosenberg, G. (2012). ''Astralium latispina'' (Philippi, 1844). 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 specialis ...

at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=532418 on 2012-09-01

Description

The length of the shell varies between 30 mm and 75 mm. The imperforate shell has a conic shape. It is greenish, brown maculated. The seven

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 are subplanate, obliquely costulate below the sutures, then with two beaded spiral lirae. The margins of the whorls are exserted, expanded, compressed, armed with triangular spines. The body whorl is sharply carinate. The base of the shell is radiately lamellose and ornamented with three or four granose concentric costae. The umbilical area is depressed, pale greenish or yellowish. The oblique

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 ...

is angulate. The oval operculum is on the outside white, smooth, with a single arcuate wide rib. On the inside it is flat, chestnut colored. The nucleus is submarginal.G.W. Tryon (1888), Manual of Conchology X; Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
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Distribution

This species occurs in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

and in the Atlantic Ocean off

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

References

Monteiro and Coelho (2001), ''Comparative morphology of ''Astraea latispina'' (Philippi, 1844) and ''Astraea olfersii'' (Philippi, 1846) (Mollusca, Gastropoda, Turbinidae)''

External links

To Biodiversity Heritage Library (3 publications)

To Encyclopedia of Life

To World Register of Marine Species
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q4811363 latispina Gastropods described in 1844