''Calliostoma conulus'' 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

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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=taxdeta ...

. This is the type species of the genus. The variety ''Calliostoma conulus'' var. ''livida'' Dautzenberg, 1927 is a synonym of '' Calliostoma lividum'' Dautzenberg, 1927

Description

The shell has an elevated-conical shape. The height of the shell varies between 10 mm and 35 mm. The shell is carinated at the periphery. It has a yellow or delicate flesh color, with obscure clouds or macula. It is alternately whitish and brown below the suture and painted on the peripheral rib in the same alternate manner. The surface of the shell is highly polished. The apical whorl is smooth, the next four or five whorls are densely granulate (granules in 4 or 5 series). The next whorl is generally spirally ribbed. Calliostomatidae - Calliostoma conulus

The following whorls are smooth, or with very obscure traces of spiral lines. The base of the shell is flat, smooth, save for 3 to 6 concentric articulated riblets around the axis. The outlines 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 a ...

are straight. There are about 10 flat whorls, separated by a linear suture with a distinct narrow supra-sutural fasciole. The rhomboidal aperture is smooth within. The pearly

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 shorter and more knobbed at its base than in '' Calliostoma zizyphinum''.Tryon (1889), Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
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Distribution

This marine species occurs in European waters, off Spain and Portugal and in the Mediterranean Sea off

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and

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; in the Atlantic Ocean off the Canary Islands, Madeira and the

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References

* Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213
''Oliverio, Marco (2006). Gastropoda Prosobranchia archeo, in: Revisione della Checklist della fauna marina italiana''

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calliostoma Conulus

conulus ''Conulus'' is an extinct genus of echinoids (sea urchins) that lived in the Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Er ...

Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus