''Lirularia iridescens'' 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
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
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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 Trochidae, the top snails.
[Bouchet, P. (2014). Lirularia iridescens (Schrenck, 1863). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=557003 on 2014-07-10]
Description
The height of the shell attains 7 mm, its diameter 6½ mm. The rather thick and solid shell is imperforate or a trifle rimate and has a globose-conical shape. It is vividly iridescent under a thin brownish cuticle, the reflections chiefly green and golden. The
spire is more or less elevated. The minute
apex is acute. The
sutures are impressed. The about 5
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 quite convex, the last globose, rounded, encircled by about 16 delicate lirae, above separated by wide interstices, which are lightly obliquely striate, and often spirally striate. On the base of the shell, the lirae are closer and more regularly spaced, nearly as wide as the interstices. The lirae are either uniform brown or articulated brown and yellowish. There are sometimes short brown flammules below the sutures. The lirae or keels are very widely separated about the middle of the whorl. The
aperture is subcircular, almost smooth (a trifle sulcate) within, and vividly iridescent. The
columella is arcuate, a trifle dilated at the base, and either concealing the perforation above or leaving a narrow chink.
Tryon (1889), Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
(described as Gibbula fulgens)
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 ...
and in the Northwest Pacific Ocean.
References
P. Bartsch (1915), Report on the Turton collection of South African marine mollusks, with additional notes on other South African shells contained in the United States National Museum; Bulletin of the United States National Museum v. 91 (1915)
* Kantor Yu.I. & Sysoev A.V. (2006) ''Marine and brackish water Gastropoda of Russia and adjacent countries: an illustrated catalogue''. Moscow: KMK Scientific Press. 372 pp. + 140 pls. page(s): 36
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6557711
iridescens
Gastropods described in 1863