''Jujubinus exasperatus'', the Rough Top Shell, 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

''Jujubinus exasperatus'' has a shell which can reach an adult size of . The shape of this shell is conical, with straight sides and a flat imperforate base with ca. 6 spiral cords which are smoother than on the whorls. The sides show four-five beaded cords. These are narrower than the interspaces in which there are very fine, prosocline lamellae. A considerably thicker compound cord is seen above the suture on the

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

and at the periphery of

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 ...

. The

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 subquadrangular, with a moderate denticle at the base of the

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...

. The outer

lip The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

has a cutting edge. The background color of the first whorls is typically reddish, the later whorls usually whitish with red, brown or (more rarely) black flames. The peripheral cord is usually articulated with red and white. The apex is pink. Interior of aperture is nacreous. This sea snail is herbivorous, feeding on algae.

Distribution

This species occurs in Eastern Atlantic, from the British islands to Portugal and Morocco and in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, mainly in Spain, Italy, Greece. It is common in the seagrass prairies of ''

Posidonia oceanica ''Posidonia oceanica'', commonly known as Neptune grass or Mediterranean tapeweed, is a seagrass species that is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. It forms large underwater meadows that are an important part of the ecosystem. The fruit is free f ...

'', at depths of 0 to 30 m.

References

* Gmelin J. F., 1791: ''Carli Linnaei systema Naturae per regna tria naturae. Editio decimatertia, aucta, reformata, Vermes Testacea''; Leipzig ipsiae1 (6): 3021–3910 olluschi * Pulteney R., 1799: ''Catalogue of the birds, shells, and some of the more rare plants of Dorsetshire''; London, Nichols pp. 92 * Brocchi G. B., 1814: ''Conchiologia fossile subappenninica con osservazioni geologiche sugli Appennini e sul suolo adiacente''; Milano Vol. I: pp. LXXX + 56 + 240. Vol. II: pp. 241–712. Con 16 tavole * Lamarck ( .-B. M.de), 1815–1822: ''Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres''; Paris ol. 5: Paris, Deterville/Verdière ol. 6 published by the Author7 vol. molluschi sono compresi nei vol. 5–7. Vol. 5 (Les Conchiferes): 612 pp. [25 luglio 1818 Vol. 6 (1) (Suite): 343 pp. [1819]. Vol. 6 (2) (Suite): 232 pp. [1822]. Vol. 7: (Suite): 711 pp. 1822 * Payraudeau B. C., 1826: ''Catalogue descriptif et méthodique des Annelides et des Mollusques de l'île de Corse''; Paris pp. 218 + 8 pl. * Risso A., 1826–1827: ''Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l'Europe Méridionale et particulièrement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes Maritimes''; Paris, Levrault Vol. 1: XII + 448 + 1 carta 826 Vol. 2: VII + 482 + 8 pl. (fiori) ovembre 1827 Vol. 3: XVI + 480 + 14 pl. (pesci) ettembre 1827 Vol. 4: IV + 439 + 12 pl. (molluschi) ovembre 1826 Vol. 5: VIII + 400 + 10 pl. (altri invertebrati) * Blainville H. M. (D. de), 1828–1830: ''Malacozoaires ou Animaux Mollusques. nFaune Française''; Levrault, Paris 320 p., 48 pl. ivr. 18 (1828) p. 1–80; livr. 2 (1829) p. 81–176; livr. 23 (1829) p. 177–240; livr. 28 (1830) p. 241–320* Aradas A. & Maggiore G., 1841?: ''Sunto di quattro memorie malacologiche... Monografia del genere Eulima dal Sig. Risso per la fauna Siciliana. Monografia del genere Orthostelis. Monografia del genere Maravignia. Descrizione di due nuove specie siciliane del genere Trochus''; Giornale del Gabinetto Gioenio 6(3): 1–10 [Philippi (1844: 225) * Monterosato T. A. (di), 1880: ''Notizie intorno ad alcune conchiglie delle coste d'Africa'' ; Bullettino della Società Malacologica Italiana, Pisa 5: 213–233 * Monterosato T. A. (di), 1884: ''Nomenclatura generica e specifica di alcune conchiglie mediterranee'' ; Palermo, Virzi pp. 152 * Bucquoy E., Dautzenberg P. & Dollfus G., 1882–1886: ''Les mollusques marins du Roussillon. Tome Ier. Gastropodes.''; Paris, J.B. Baillière & fils 570 p., 66 pl. * Sturany R., 1896: ''Zoologische Ergebnisse VII. Mollusken I (Prosobranchier und Opisthobranchier; Scaphopoden; Lamellibranchier) gesammelt von S.M. Schiff "Pola" 1890–1894.''; Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematische-Naturwissenschaftlischen Classe 63: 1–36, pl.1-2 * Pallary P., 1900: ''Coquilles marines du littoral du Départment d'Oran''; Journal de Conchyliologie 48 (3): 211–422, pl. 6–8 * Coen G., 1933: ''Saggio di una Sylloge Molluscorum Adriaticorum''; Memorie del Regio Comitato Talassografico Italiano 192: pp. i–vii, 1–186 * Ghisotti F. & Melone G., 1969–1975: ''Catalogo illustrato delle conchiglie marine del Mediterraneo'' Conchiglie Part 1: suppl. 5 (11–12): 1–28 [1969]. Part 2: suppl. 6 (3–4): 29–46 [1970]. Part 3: suppl. 7 (1–2): 47–77 [1971]. Part 4. suppl. 8 (11–12): 79–144 [1972]. Part 5. suppl. 11 (11–12): 147–208 [1975] * Arnaud, P., 1978: ''Révision des taxa malacologiques méditerranens introduits par Antoine Risso''; Annales du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Nice 5: 101–150

External links

PESI
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jujubinus Exasperatus exasperatus Molluscs described in 1777 Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean Molluscs of the Mediterranean Sea