''Nassarius horridus'', common name the horrid nassa, 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 ...

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 ...

Nassariidae The Nassariidae, Nassa mud snails (USA), or dog whelks (UK), are a taxonomic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Neogastropoda. "Dog whelk" also refers to ''Nucella lapillus''. Shell description T ...

, the Nassa mud snails or dog whelks.Marshall, B. (2016). Nassarius horridus (Dunker, 1847). In: MolluscaBase (2016). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=215735 on 2016-05-19

Description

The length of the shell varies between 8 mm and 15 mm. The small shell is ovate, subglobular, and spined. The

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 conical and pointed. It is composed of six or seven

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. 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 ...

is much larger than all the others. The spire presents on its exterior longitudinal folds, upon which are regularly disposed pointed, conical tubercles, which are of the same color as the rest of the shell. The first row of these spines is situated immediately beneath the suture. The last one obliquely intersects the base of the shell. Transverse striae, pretty fine and numerous, are observed between each of the rows of the spines. The white

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 semilunar. The 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 thick and furnished internally with fine striae. 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 ...

is nearly straight, covered by the inner lip which forms a callosity. The color is uniform, of a white fawn, sometimes pale orange.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 muricatum'' Quoy & Gaimard, 1882)

Distribution

This marine species occurs off

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, Rep. South Africa, off East Africa;

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Aldabra Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll, lying south-east of the continent of Africa. It is part of the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles, with a distance of 1,120 k ...

; and in the Indo-West Pacific:

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, Western

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Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

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, the

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, Indo-Malaysia,

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; and off Australia (

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References

* Dunker, G. 1847. ''Diagnoses Buccinorum quorundam novorum''. Zeitschrift für Malakozoologie 4: 59–64 * Quoy, J.R.C. & Gaimard, J.P. 1833. ''Voyage de découvertes de l'Astrolabe, exécuté par ordre du Roi, pendant les années 1826–1829''. Paris : J. Tastu Zoologie Vol. 2 pp. 321–686. * Gould, A.A. 1850. ''Descriptions of the shells brought home by the U.S. Exploring Expedition'' (cont.). Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 3: 151–156 * Cernohorsky, W.O. 1984. ''Systematics of the family Nassariidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum. Auckland, New Zealand 14: 1–356 * Wilson, B. 1994. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods.'' Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp. * Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y. 1999. ''Catalogue and Bibliography of the Marine Shell-bearing Mollusca of Japan''. Japan : Elle Scientific Publications 749 pp. * Marais J.P. & Kilburn R.N. (2010) Nassariidae. pp. 138–173, in: Marais A.P. & Seccombe A.D. (eds), ''Identification guide to the seashells of South Africa. Volume 1''. Groenkloof: Centre for Molluscan Studies. 376 pp.

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q5695802 Nassariidae Gastropods described in 1847