''Harpa amouretta'',

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

the lesser harp, 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 Harpidae, the harp snails.

Description

As ''Harpa harpa'', up to 7 cm, with 11–14 axial ribs and higher spire. Colour white with cream and pale brown banding. Columella with large, central purple blotch; aperture white. The ovate shell is oblong. It is rather small and slightly elongated. The

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 of the spire are distinct and mucronated (= ending in an abruptly tapering point). 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 ...

has eleven or twelve narrow and slightly elevated longitudinal ribs, the surface of which, of a yellow ground, is crossed transversely by a great number of very fine blackish lines, which approach alternately, two by two. The intervals of the ribs are marked with very thin and delicate longitudinal striae, and with brown and whitish lines undulating in bars. Sometimes one or two whitish bands are observed upon the body whorl. The aperture is ovate, alike whitish, with several small brown bands upon the edge of the outer lip which, externally, is covered by the last rib. The columella is almost straight and is marked with small brown spots.Kiener (1840). General species and iconography of recent shells : comprising the Massena Museum, the collection of Lamarck, the collection of the Museum of Natural History, and the recent discoveries of travellers; Boston :W.D. Ticknor,1837
(described as ''Harpa minor'')

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Red Sea; in the Indian Ocean from Northern Transkei, South Africa to

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

(Somalia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya, Madagascar), off the Mascarene Basin,

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 ...

, Chagos,

Reunion Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, U ...

, Seychelles; in the Indo-West Pacific; off New Zealand and Australia ( Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia). There are insufficient records to support a continuous distribution across northern Australia.

Habitat

Shallow and deep sands. Harpa amouretta

References

* Röding, P.F. 1798. ''Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturae quae olim collegerat Joa''. Hamburg : Trappii 199 pp. * Link, H.F. 1807. ''Beschreibung der Naturalien Sammlung der Universität zu Rostock.'' Rostock : Alders Erben. * Schumacher, C.F. 1817. ''Essai d'un Nouveau Systéme des Habitations des vers Testacés.'' Copenhagen : Schultz 287 pp., pls 1–22. * Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de M. 1822. ''Histoire naturelle des Animaux sans Vertèbres''. Paris : J.B. Lamarck Vol. 7 711 pp. * Krauss, F. 1848. ''Die Südafrikanischen Mollusken. Ein Beitrag zur Kenntniss der Mollusken des Kap – und Natallandes und zur geographischen Verbreitung derselben''. Stuttgart : Ebner & Seubert 140 pp. 6 pls. * Adams, A. 1854. ''Descriptions of new species of shells, in the collection of Hugh Cuming, Esq''. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 21: 173–176 * Sowerby, G.B. II, 1860. T''hesaurus Conchyliorum, or monographs of genera of shells''. London : Sowerby Vol. III. * Maes, V.O. 1967. ''The littoral marine mollusks of Cocos-Keeling Islands (Indian Ocean).'' Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 119: 93–217 * Wilson, B.R. & Gillett, K. 1971. ''Australian Shells: illustrating and describing 600 species of marine gastropods found in Australian waters.'' Sydney : Reed Books 168 pp. * Rehder, H.A. 1973. ''The family Harpidae of the world''. Indo-Pacific Mollusca 3(16): 207–274 * Kay, E.A. 1979. ''Hawaiian Marine Shells. Reef and shore fauna of Hawaii. Section 4 : Mollusca.'' Honolulu, Hawaii : Bishop Museum Press Bernice P. Bishop Museum Special Publication Vol. 64(4) 653 pp. * Walls, J.G. (1980). ''Conchs, tibias and harps. A survey of the molluscan families Strombidae and Harpidae.'' T.F.H. Publications Ltd, Hong Kong. * Wilson, B. 1994. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods.'' Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harpa amouretta Harpidae Gastropods described in 1798