''Nassarius subspinosus'', common name the prickly 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 ...

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.Bouchet, P. (2015). Hebra subspinosa. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=560131 on 2016-05-16

Description

The length of the shell varies between 10 mm and 20 mm. The shell is ovate and conical. 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 composed of six slightly 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, somewhat flattened at their upper part, ornamented with longitudinal, spinous folds. 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 ...

supports two or three rows of spinous, distant tubercles. Besides, the whole shell is crossed by pretty fine, transverse striae, more apparent towards the base. 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 sub-rounded. 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 margined externally, and striated internally. The color of this shell is grayish, with irregular transverse bands of a slate or violet color. The tubercles are sometimes white, and often brown lines cross them. 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 subspinosum'')

Distribution

This marine species occurs off Central and East Indian Ocean,

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

East India East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magadh ...

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

, the

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Indo-China Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

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, Oceania (

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

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and Australia (

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

* 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 * Spry, J.F. (1961). ''The sea shells of Dar es Salaam: Gastropods''. Tanganyika Notes and Records 56 * 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

Nevill G. & Nevill H. (1874). Descriptions of new marine Mollusca from the Indian Ocean. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 43(2): 21-30, 1 pl

Galindo, L. A.; Puillandre, N.; Utge, J.; Lozouet, P.; Bouchet, P. (2016). The phylogeny and systematics of the Nassariidae revisited (Gastropoda, Buccinoidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 99: 337-353
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q6967520 Nassariidae Gastropods described in 1822