''Cinysca dunkeri'' 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

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 ...

Areneidae Areneidae is a family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Vetigastropoda.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). MolluscaBase. Areneidae McLean, 2012. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.p ...

Description

Cinysca dunkeri (Lüderitz-eastern Wild Coast) has a thick, rounded shell; uniformly pale on the west coast, speckled on the south coast. Umbilicus large and obvious. About eight strong, equal-sized ridges spiral around each

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 ...

and corrugate the outer lip. Operculum horny and flexible, but has spiral rows of minute calcareous beads. Related to turban shells (Plate 78) although specifically resembling

wrinkle A wrinkle, also known as a rhytid, is a fold, ridge or crease in an otherwise smooth surface, such as on skin or fabric. Skin wrinkles typically appear as a result of ageing processes such as glycation, habitual sleeping positions, loss of bo ...

Distribution

''Cinysca dunkeri'' can be found off of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and Nambia.

References

Areneidae Gastropods described in 1852 Taxa named by Rodolfo Amando Philippi {{Areneidae-stub