''Cymbiola aulica'', also known as the Princely or Courtier Volute is a species of

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 in the family Volutidae, the volutes.

Subspecies

* ''Cymbiola aulica aulica'' Sowerby, G.B. I, 1825 * ''Cymbiola aulica cathcartiae'' L. A. Reeve, 1856

Distribution

This species is present in the Southern Philippines (

Sulu Sea The Sulu Sea ( fil, Dagat Sulu; Tausug: ''Dagat sin Sūg''; Chavacano: ''Mar de Sulu''; Cebuano: ''Dagat sa Sulu''; Hiligaynon: ''Dagat sang Sulu''; Karay-a: ''Dagat kang Sulu''; Cuyonon: ''Dagat i'ang Sulu''; ms, Laut Sulu) is a body o ...

Description

Shells of ''Cymbiola aulica'' can reach a size of . These large shells are solid to thick, ovate, completely smooth, with subconical spire and sharp nodules on shoulders of whorls. Siphonal notch is narrow and deep. Columella shows six plaits.Tertiary Volutidae of South-Eastern Australia
/ref> The aperture is usually wide orange with hues of greyish blue. The colour pattern of the external surface of these Schnecke is very variable, ranging from reddish to orange or whitish with brown markings and zig zag lines.

Habitat

These sea snails live in sandy and muddy substrate at depths of 5 to 40 m.

Bibliography

* Bail P. & Poppe G.T. 2001. A conchological iconography: a taxonomic introduction of the recent Volutidae. ConchBooks, Hackenheim. * Harald Douté, M. A. Fontana Angioy - Volutes, The Doute collection * Hsi-Jen Tao - Shells of Taiwan Illustrated in Colour - National Museum of Natural Science * MacDonald & Co (1979) The MacDonald Encyclopedia of Shells. MacDonald & Co. London & Sydney *Springsteen, F.J. & Leobrera, F.M. 1986. Shells of the Philippines. Carfel Seashell Museum, Philippines

References

External links

Encyclopedia of life
Volutidae Gastropods described in 1825 {{Volutidae-stub