''Clanculus atropurpureus'' 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 ...

Trochidae The Trochidae, common name top-snails or top-shells, are a family of various sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the subclass Vetigastropoda. This family is commonly known as the top-snails because in many species the shell resembles ...

, the top snails.Bouchet, P. (2012). ''Clanculus atropurpureus'' (Gould, 1849). 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=547246 on 2012-11-23 Charles Hedley (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.Wales, 1902, p. 16) suggests, that ''Clanculus atropurpureus'' and ''Clanculus samoensis'' Hombr. & Jacq., appear to be synonyms of Clanculus denticulatus (Gray, 1827).

Description

The height of the shell attains 7 mm, its diameter 9 mm. The depressed, umbilicate shell has conoid shape. It is, dark purplish or ferrugineous brown, unicolored, the apex carmine. The shell contains six convex granose-lirate

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. The sutures are narrowly subcanaliculate. 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 ...

is rounded at the periphery and abruptly briefly deflected anteriorly. It is encircled by 16 or 17 finely, very regularly but feebly granose lirae, which are wider on the base. 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 rounded. The outer and basal lips are regularly curved, thickened and finely crenulated within. The columella deeply enters the profound umbilicus, bearing a minute denticle above and at the base. The profound umbilicus is smooth within, bordered and constricted by a marginal rib bearing about four white teeth, the largest near to the parietal wall of the

.H. Pilsbry, Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
(described as ''Trochus atropurpureus'')

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

, in the Central and East Indian Ocean; off Indo-China, Indo-Malaysia,

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

, 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 Australia (

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

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 ...

References

* Gould, A.A. 1849. ''Description of a new species of Trochus''. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 3: 106-108, 118 * Rousseau, L. 1854. ''Voyage au Pôle Sud et dans l'Océanie sur les corvettes l'Astrolabe et la Zélée, exécuté ... pendant ... 1837-1840, sous le commandemant de M.J. Dumont d'Urville ... publié ... sous la direction supérieure de M. Jacquinot, etc. Description des mollusques, coquilles et zoophytes''. Paris : Publisher unknown Vol. 5 1-132, pls 1-23. * Smith, E.A. 1876. ''A list of marine shells, chiefly from the Solomon Islands, with descriptions of several new species''. Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology 12: 535-562, pl. 30 * Hedley, C. 1899. ''The Mollusca of Funafuti. Part 1. Gastropoda''. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 3(7): 395-488, 49 text figs * Melvill, J.C. & Standen, R. 1899. ''Report on the marine Mollusca obtained during the first expedition of Prof. A.C. Haddon to the Torres Straits in 1888-89.'' Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology 27: 150-206, pls 1-2 * Melvill, J.C. & Standen, R. 1901. ''The Mollusca of the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and the Arabian Sea, as evidenced mainly through the collections of Mr. F.W. Townsend, 1893-1900; with descriptions of new species''. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1901(ii): 327-460 pls xxi-xxiv * Hedley, C. 1907. ''The Mollusca of Mast Head Reef, Capricorn Group, Queensland, part II.'' Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 32: 476-513, pls 16-21 * Schepman, M.M. 1908. ''Prosobranchia (excluding Heteropoda and parasitic Prosobranchia). Rhipidoglossa and Docoglossa. With an appendix by Prof. R. Bergh ectinobranchiata Siboga-Expéditi''e Report 49(1): 1-108, 9 pls * Rippingale, O.H. & McMichael, D.F. 1961. ''Queensland and Great Barrier Reef Shells''. Brisbane : Jacaranda Press 210 pp. * Cernohorsky, W.O. 1978. ''Tropical Pacific marine shells''. Sydney : Pacific Publications 352 pp., 68 pls * Short, J.W. & Potter, D.G. 1987. ''Shells of Queensland and The Great Barrier Reef''. Drummoyne, NSW : Golden press Pty Ltd 135 pp., 60 pl. * Wilson, B. 1993. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods''. Kallaroo, Western Australia : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 1 408 pp. * Jansen, P. 1995. ''A review of the genus Clanculus Montfort, 1810 (Gastropoda: Trochidae) in Australia, with description of a new subspecies and the introduction of a nomen novum.'' Vita Marina 43(1-2): 39-62

External links

Biodiversity Heritage Library (12 publications)

Encyclopedia of Life

GenBank (2 nucleotides; 0 proteins)

World Register of Marine Species

INternet Hawaii Shell News: ''Clanculus atropurpureus''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5125647 atropurpureus Gastropods described in 1849