''Monodonta labio'', common name the toothed top shell or the lipped periwinkle, 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 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 ...

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 resemb ...

, the top snails.

Distribution

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and the

Mascarene The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of the islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Thei ...

basin and in the Western Pacific and off the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and commonly seen in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

near tide line.

Description

The length of the

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

size varies between 15 mm and 45 mm. The shell is heavy and coarse with rough, grained surface with moderate sutures between rounded

whorls 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 ...

. The body whorl is swollen and the penultimate whorl somewhat less. The shell shows a rounded keel (a spiral ridge marking a change of slope) and an umbilicus sealed with a callus. The

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe * Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe *Apex, ...

is often worn away in adults. 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 ...

has a prominent, blunt tooth. The inner edge of the outer lip shows a number of smaller knobs. 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 ...

has a nacreous interior. The color of the shell varies from a dark reddish brown to pale brown, with spiraled dashes of cream or pink.

Distribution

This marine species occurs over a wide range in Central and East Indian Ocean, Indo-China, Indo-Malaysian Oceania, the Philippines; the Persian Gulf, West Indian Ocean to Micronesia, Western Pacific,

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

and Australia (

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

)

Habitat

This snail lives on or under rocks and

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

in the lower intertidal zone. But it tolerates a wide variety of substrata.

Feeding habits

This species is a herbivorous snail grazing on microalgae

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Linnaeus, C. 1758. ''Systemae naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differetiis, synonymis, locis.v. Holmiae'' : Laurentii Salvii 824 pp * Adams, A. 1853. ''Contributions towards a monograph of the Trochidae, a family of gastropodous Mollusca''. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1851(19): 150–192 * Melvill, J.C. & Standen, R. 1901. ''The Mollusca of the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and the Arabian Sea, as evidenced mainly through the collections of Mr. F.W. Townsend, 1893–1900; with descriptions of new species.'' Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1901(ii): 327–460 pls xxi–xxiv * Dautzenberg, P. & Fischer, H. 1905. ''Liste des mollusques récoltés par M. le Capitaine de Frégate Blaise au Tonkin et description d'espèces nouvelles''. Journal de Conchyliologie 53: 85–234 * Schepman, M.M. 1908. ''Prosobranchia (excluding Heteropoda and parasitic Prosobranchia). Rhipidoglossa and Docoglossa''. With an appendix by Prof. R. Bergh * Allan, J.K. 1950. ''Australian Shells: with related animals living in the sea, in freshwater and on the land''. Melbourne : Georgian House xix, 470 pp., 45 pls, 112 text figs. * Demond, J. 1957. ''Micronesian reef associated gastropods''. Pacific Science 11(3): 275–341, fig. 2, pl. 1 * Tantanasiriwong, R. 1978. ''An illustrated checklist of marine shelled gastropods from Phuket Island, adjacent mainland and offshore islands, Western Peninsula, Thailand''. Phuket Marine Biological Center, Research Bulletin 21: 1–22, 259 * Short, J.W. & Potter, D.G. 1987. ''Shells of Queensland and The Great Barrier Reef''. Drummoyne, NSW : Golden press Pty Ltd 135 pp., 60 pl. * Drivas, J. & M. Jay (1988). ''Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'île Maurice'' * Hickman, C.S. & McLean, J.H. 1990. ''Systematic revision and suprageneric classification of trochacean gastropods''. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Science Series 35: i–vi, 1–169 * Wilson, B. 1993. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods''. Kallaroo, Western Australia : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 1 408 pp * Donald K.M., Kennedy M. & Spencer H.G. (2005) ''The phylogeny and taxonomy of austral monodontine topshells (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Trochidae), inferred from DNA sequences''. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 37: 474–483 * Wilson, B. 2002. ''A Handbook to Australian Seashells on Seashores East to West and North to South''. Sydney : Reed New Holland 185 pp. * Poppe G.T., Tagaro S.P. & Dekker H. (2006) ''The Seguenziidae, Chilodontidae, Trochidae, Calliostomatidae and Solariellidae of the Philippine Islands''. Visaya Supplement 2: 1–228. page(s): 95 * Carkill M. ''et al'' (2010) ''Age and Size Distribution of Monodonta lineata on North Clare Shores.'' BT Young Scientist Awards 2010.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monodonta Labio labio Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus