''Macrarene californica'', common name the Californian liotia, 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 ...

Liotiidae Liotiidae is a family of small sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Vetigastropoda (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).Gofas, S. (2013). Liotiidae Gray, 1850. Accessed through: World Register of ...

.Rosenberg, G. (2012). ''Macrarene californica'' (Dall, 1908). 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=575693 on 2012-12-03

Description

(Original description by W.H. Dall) The height of the shell attains 15 mm, its diameter 23 mm. The rude, yellowish-white shell is large for the genus. It has a depressed shape with about six

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, carrying at the shoulder six blunt, large, projecting tubercles. The nucleus is small, the nepionic whorls reticulate and flattened. The later whorls are keeled bluntly at the shoulder, behind which they are flattened. On the flat area are two strong, elevated, spiral threads (which later disappear) close together, with the channels on either side reticulated by subequal and subequally spaced radial threads. On 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 ...

all the

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

on the upper part of the whorl, except the keel connecting the tubercles at the shoulder, has disappeared. The surface of the shell is of a spongy nature and all the sculpture is obscure as if deliquescent. The base of the shell is rounded with a large spiral, deep umbilicus, having one entering a spiral keel which ends at a projection of the pillar lip. The verge of the umbilicus is rounded and spongy. Outside of this ridge in the young it is constricted by a row of pits between which and the periphery are some obscure spirals in some specimens. 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 circular within, and when fresh, brilliantly pearly, but the pearly coating is very thin and seems to disappear in dead shells. The outer margin of the aperture, which is very thick, is modified by the umbilical keel and other sculpture. The operculum is multispiral, with the external edges of the whorls fringed, very concave, and showing hardly any calcareous deposit. This species is usually covered with

Polyzoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary colonies. Typically about long, they have a special feeding structure called a l ...

Lithothamnion ''Lithothamnion'' is a genus of thalloid red alga comprising 103 species. Its members are known by a number of common names.Recorded common names are griuán, maërl, punalevä-suku, stenhinna and maerl. The monomerous, crustose thalli are compos ...

, and other adherent matter, which obscures its appearance, but the shell itself is so rude, spongy, and bleached in appearance that the actual surface is often discriminated only when examined with a lens.W.H. Dall (1908) Reports on the Mollusca and Brachiopoda, Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. vol. 43
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Distribution

This marine species occurs in the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja Ca ...

, Western Mexico

References

External links

To Biodiversity Heritage Library (1 publication)

To World Register of Marine Species
{{Taxonbar, from=Q6725077 californica Gastropods described in 1908