''Drupa (Drupa) ricinus'', common name : prickly spotted drupe, 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 ...

Muricidae Muricidae is a large and varied taxonomic family of small to large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks, commonly known as murex snails or rock snails. With about 1,600 living species, the Muricidae represent almost 10% of the Neogas ...

, the murex snails or rock snails.

Subspecies

* ''Drupa (Drupa) ricinus lischkei'' (Hidalgo, 1904) (synonyms: ''Drupa (Drupa) ricinus lischkei'' (Hidalgo, 1904); ''Drupa hadari'' Emerson & Cernohorsky, 1973; ''Ricinula lischkei'' Hidalgo, 1904 (basionym) ) * ''Drupa (Drupa) ricinus ricinus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) (synonym: ''Drupa (Drupa) ricinus ricinus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) ) * ''Drupa ricinus albolabris'' (Blainville, 1832) * ''Drupa ricinus arachnoidea'' (Lamarck, 1810)

Description

The shell size varies between 19 mm and 32 mm

Distribution

This species is distributed throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific and along the Galápagos Islands.

References

* Dautzenberg, P. (1923). ''Liste préliminaire des mollusques marins de Madagascar et description de deux espèces nouvelles''. Journal de Conchyliologie 68: 21-74 * Dautzenberg, Ph. (1929). ''Mollusques testacés marins de Madagascar''. Faune des Colonies Francaises, Tome III * MacNae, W. & M. Kalk (eds) (1958). ''A natural history of Inhaca Island, Mozambique.'' Witwatersrand Univ. Press, Johannesburg. I-iv, 163 pp * Houart R., Kilburn R.N. & Marais A.P. (2010) ''Muricidae''. pp. 176–270, in: Marais A.P. & Seccombe A.D. (eds), Identification guide to the seashells of South Africa. Volume 1. Groenkloof: Centre for Molluscan Studies. 376 pp. * Claremont M., Reid D.G. & Williams S.T. (2012) ''Speciation and dietary specialization in Drupa, a genus of predatory marine snails (Gastropoda: Muricidae).'' Zoologica Scripta 41: 137-149 Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.MOL.132055 - Drupa ricinus ricinus (Linaeus, 1758) - Muricidae - Mollusc shell.jpeg, Drupa ricinus ricinus. Museum specimens. Naturalis Biodiversity Center - RMNH.MOL.132558 - Drupa ricinus lischkei (Hidalgo, 1904) - Muricidae - Mollusc shell.jpeg, Drupa ricinus lischkei. Museum specimens.

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5309367

ricinus ''Ricinus communis'', the castor bean or castor oil plant, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole species in the monotypic genus, ''Ricinus'', and subtribe, Ricininae. The evolution of cas ...

Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus