''Lithopoma tuber'', common name the green star 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 ...

of large sea snail, a marine gastropod

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 group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Turbinidae Turbinidae, the turban snails, are a family of small to large marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Trochoidea.Bouchet, P. (2014). Turbinidae Rafinesque, 1815. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies ...

, the turban snails.

Description

The size of the shell varies between 25 mm and 75 mm. The imperforate, very solid shell has a turbinate-conic shape. Its color pattern is dirty white or pale green, radiately maculated with brown above, irregularly marked and lighter below. The shell contains six whorls. The upper two are smooth by erosion, the following whorls are obliquely coarsely plicate and finely wrinkled in the same direction above, somewhat shouldered. They are obtusely angular near the periphery, above which several obscure beaded lirae revolve, shagreened by intersection of incremental striae and oblique wrinkles. The base of the shell is nearly smooth. The oval

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 ...

is very oblique and silvery within. The short columella is wide, and generally bituberculate at the base, excavated over the location of the umbilicus. The operculum is oval, its nucleus sublateral. Its outside is white or slightly brownish, very convex, nearly smooth, and excavated near the center.G.W. Tryon (1888), Manual of Conchology X; Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
(described as ''Astralium tuber'')

Distribution

This marine species occurs off Southeast

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, USA and off the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

Habitat

This species occurs at depths between 0 m and 30 m.

References

* Linnaeus, C. 1758. ''Systema Naturae''. 10th ed., vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae * Röding, P. F. 1798. ''Museum Boltenianum''. viii + 199 pp. Hamburg. * Verrill, A. H. 1950. ''New subspecies from the West Indies.'' Conchological Club of Southern California, Minutes 101: 5–7. * Turgeon, D.; Quinn, J.F.; Bogan, A.E.; Coan, E.V.; Hochberg, F.G.; Lyons, W.G.; Mikkelsen, P.M.; Neves, R.J.; Roper, C.F.E.; Rosenberg, G.; Roth, B.; Scheltema, A.; Thompson, F.G.; Vecchione, M.; Williams, J.D. (1998). ''Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: mollusks. 2nd ed.'' American Fisheries Society Special Publication, 26. American Fisheries Society: Bethesda, MD (USA). . IX, 526 + cd-rom pp.

External links

tuber Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growin ...

Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Turbinidae-stub