''Ethaliella floccata'' 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). ''Ethaliella floccata'' (Sowerby, 1903). 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=547305 on 2012-11-23

Description

The shell grows to a length of 5 mm, its diameter 9 mm. The shell is much depressed, biconvex, obtusely carinate peripherally and openly umbilicate. Its color is flesh-tinted, with a band below the suture composed of fine obliquely radial dark red lines alternating with white ones. This is followed in the middle of the upper surface by a spiral series of oblique, oblong red blotches alternating with opaque white ones. Below these there is a minutely white-speckled belt, and then at the periphery a series of red spots. On the base of the shell, the umbilicus is fleshy-whitish; outside of this there is a red area closely mottled with opaque white; and between this tract and the periphery there is a pale zone, sometimes marked with distant radial series of two red dots each. The surface is smooth except at and above the periphery, where there are several spiral striae. The 5½

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 are slightly convex, parted by an impressed suture. The umbilicus is circular and deep, expanding funnel-like at the opening, where the sloping sides are excavated in the middle and finely sulcate radially. 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 subcircular. The peristome is obtuse. The columellar margin is broadly dilated, covering a small part of the umbilicus. Henry Pilsbry, New Japanese Marine Mollusca; Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol. 57 (1905), pp. 101-122
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Distribution

This marine species occurs off

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, 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 in the

East China Sea The East China Sea is an arm of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. It covers an area of roughly . The sea’s northern extension between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula is the Yellow Sea, separated b ...

References

External links

Barcode of Life (1 barcode)

Encyclopedia of Life

GenBank (11 nucleotides; 3 proteins)

World Register of Marine Species
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5402851 floccata Gastropods described in 1903