''Clanculus flosculus'' 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 ...

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.

Description

The size of the shell varies between 9 mm and 15 mm. The thick, narrowly perforate shell has a conoid shape with an acute apex and 7½

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 first one is rosy, smooth, the rest convex. They are separated by linear sutures. They are spirally lirate with granose lirae;, 6 on the penultimate whorl, of which the 1st, 3d, 5th are entirely reddish, the 2d, 4th, 6th composed of alternating white and black granules. 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 globose, bearing 15 or 16 lirae, somewhat convex beneath. The concentric lirae are uniform yellowish-brown, often in pairs, separated by single alternately white and black articulated lirae. 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 opt ...

is rhomboid. The lip is thickened, plicate and dentate above. The columella is oblique, terminating in a large, plicate, contorted, truncate tooth. The narrow umbilicus is profound with a crenulated border. The parietal callus is wrinkled.H. Pilsbry, Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
(described as ''Trochus flosculus'')

Distribution

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...

Aldabra Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll, lying south-east of the continent of Africa. It is part of the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, with a distance of 1,120 k ...

and Chagos and off

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

, South Africa.

References

* Herbert G.G. (1993). ''Revision of the Trochinae, tribe Trochini (Gastropoda: Trochidae) of southern Africa''. Annals of the natal Museum 34(2):239-308.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clanculus Flosculus flosculus Gastropods described in 1880