''Nassarius conoidalis'',

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

the cone-shaped Nassa or the jewelled dog whelk, 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 ...

mollusc 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 esti ...

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 ...

Nassariidae, the nassa mud snails.

List of synonyms

* ''Buccinum clathratum'' Wood, 1825 (invalid: junior homonym of ''Buccinum clathratum'' Born, 1778) * ''Buccinum conoidale'' Deshayes in Belanger, 1832 (original combination) * ''Buccinum gemmulatum'' Lamarck, 1822 (invalid: junior homonym of ''Buccinum gemmulatum'' Wood, 1818) * ''Desmoulea ringens'' A. Adams, 1855 * ''Nassa (Niotha) gemmulata'' (Lamarck, 1822) * ''Nassa (Niotha) gemmulata'' var. ''variegata'' A. Adams, 1852 * † ''Nassa (Niotha) rajaensis'' K. Martin, 1895 * ''Nassa clathrata'' Lamarck, 1816 (invalid: junior secondary homonym of ''Buccinum clathratum'' Born, 1778) * ''Nassa cumingii'' A. Adams, 1852 * ''Nassa gemmulata'' (Lamarck, 1822) * ''Nassa ringens'' Reeve, 1854 (invalid: junior homonym of ''Nassa ringens'' Michelotti, 1847) * ''Nassa variegata'' A. Adams, 1852 * ''Nassa verrucosa'' A. Adams, 1852 (invalid: junior secondary homonym of ''Buccinum verrucosum'' Bruguière, 1789) * ''Nassarius (Niotha) clathratus'' (Lamarck, 1822) * ''Nassarius (Niotha) conoidalis'' (Deshayes in Belanger, 1832) accepted, alternate representation * ''Nassarius (Niotha) gemmulatus'' (Lamarck, 1822) * ''Nassarius (Niotha) gemmulatus'' var. ''variegatus'' (A. Adams, 1852) * ''Nassarius (Niotha) gemmulatus'' var. ''verrucosa'' (A. Adams, 1852) * ''Nassarius (Niotha) variegatus'' (A. Adams, 1852) * ''Nassarius (Niotha) verrucosus'' (A. Adams, 1852) * ''Nassarius comtessei'' (Iredale, 1929) * ''Nassarius conoidalis conoidalis'' (Deshayes in Belanger, 1832) * ''Nassarius gemmulatus'' (Lamarck, 1822) * ''Niotha clathrata'' (Lamarck, 1816) * ''Niotha clathratus'' (Lamarck, 1816) * ''Niotha comtessei'' Iredale, 1929 * ''Niotha cumingii'' A. Adams, 1870 * ''Niotha gemmulata'' (Lamarck, 1822)

Description

The shell size varies between 16 mm and 32 mm The shell has an ovate, ventricose shape. The pointed

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 ...

is composed of six or seven convex

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. It is ornamented upon its whole surface with granular, longitudinal folds, and transverse striae. The suture is very distinct, formed by a small canal, and bordered with closer tubercles, principally upon the body whorl. This is very much inflated, and composes almost half of the shell. 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 rounded. The thin 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 ...

is arcuated. It is folded upon the edge, ornamented internally with raised striae, which are continued within the shell. The inner lip expands upon 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 ...

, which is truncated towards the top, and extends like a raised lip towards the base. It is covered lengthwise by two or three slightly marked, oblique folds. The interior of this shell is of a diaphanous white, like the surface, which, moreover, is covered with reddish clouds.Kiener (1840). General species and iconography of recent shells : comprising the Massena Museum, the collection of Lamarck, the collection of the Museum of Natural History, and the recent discoveries of travellers; Boston :W.D. Ticknor,1837
(described as ''Buccinum gemmulatum'')

Distribution

This species occurs in the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

, the

Gulf of Oman The Gulf of Oman or Sea of Oman ( ar, خليج عمان ''khalīj ʿumān''; fa, دریای عمان ''daryâ-ye omân''), also known as Gulf of Makran or Sea of Makran ( ar, خلیج مکران ''khalīj makrān''; fa, دریای مکرا� ...

, The

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

, in the Indian Ocean off

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

; and in the South Chinese Sea off the coast of

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

; off

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and Australia (

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

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 , established_ ...

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 ...

References

* Deshayes, G.P. 1832. Zoologie. Mollusques. pp. 401–416 in Bélanger, M.C. (ed.). Voyage aux Indes-Orientales, par le nord de l'Europe, les provinces du Caucase, la Géorgie, l'Armenie et la Perse, suivide details topographiques, statistique et autre sur le Pégon, les Isles de Java, de Maurice et de Bourbon, sur le Cap-de-bonne-Espérance et Sainte Hélène. Paris : Arthur Bertrand Vol. 2. * Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de M. 1816. Liste des objets représentés dans les planches de cette livraison. pp. 1–16 in Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de M. Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique des trois règnes de la nature. Vers, coquilles, mollusques et polypiers. Paris : Agasse Part 23 pp. 1–16, pls 391-488. * Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de M. 1822. ''Histoire naturelle des Animaux sans Vertèbres.'' Paris : J.B. Lamarck Vol. 7 711 pp. * Adams, A. 1852. ''Catalogue of the species of Nassa, a genus of Gasteropodous Mollusca, belonging to the family Buccinidae, in the Collection of Hugh Cuming, Esq., with the description of some new species.'' Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1851(19): 94-112 * Reeve, L.A. 1854. ''Monograph of the genus Nassa''. pls 26-29 in Reeve, L.A. (ed). Conchologia Iconica. London : L. Reeve Vol. 8. * Martin, K. 1895. ''Die Fossilien von Java auf Grund einer Sammlung von Dr. R.D.M. Verbeek''. Sammlung des Geologischen Reichsmuseums in Leiden 1(2): 1-132, pls 1-20 * Iredale, T. 1929. ''Strange molluscs in Sydney Harbour.'' The Australian Zoologist 5(4): 337-352, pls 37-38 * Cernohorsky W.O. (1981). ''Revision of the Australian and New Zealand Tertiary and Recent species of the family Nassariidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum 18:137-192. * Cernohorsky W. O. (1984). ''Systematics of the Family Nassariidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum 14: 1-356 * Vine, P. (1986). ''Red Sea Invertebrate''s. Immel Publishing, London. 224 pp. * Wilson, B. 1994. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods''. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp. * Moolenbeek, R.G. 1995. ''Gastropods (Gastropoda).'' pp. 24–186 in Dance, S.P. (ed). Seashells of Eastern Arabia. Dubai : Motivate Publishing.

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q6967429 Nassariidae Gastropods described in 1832