''Oxystele tabularis'' 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 ...

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 resembles ...

, the top snails.

Description

The length of the varies between 12 mm and 30 mm. The small, imperforate, rather solid shell has a conical shape. The coloration consists of rather broad longitudinal stripes of dark olive-green or red, alternating with stripes of bright pink, bordered with lines of delicate green, and frequently veined with the same tint The stripes are continuous from suture to base, or are displaced or interrupted at the periphery These axial zigzag markings on a dark or pale brown background are characteristic. 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 low-conic The eroded apex is orange-colored. The following

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 ...

, if eroded, shows iridescent blue-green

nacre Nacre ( , ), also known as mother of pearl, is an organicinorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer; it is also the material of which pearls are composed. It is strong, resilient, and iridescent. Nacre is f ...

, which is spirally grooved. The about 5 whorls are smooth and rounded when not eroded. 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 obtusely subangulate at the periphery. The base of the shell is rather flattened, radiately striped with red and white, and not eroded. The wide

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 oblique. The outer lip is acute, edged with alternate green and white, and smooth within. The white, thin columella is arcuate. It is wide, covering the place of the umbilicus with an ivory-white pad, which is closely appressecl to the body whorl.Tryon (1889), Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
/ref> There is little or no difference between this species and ''

Oxystele variegata ''Oxystele variegata'', common name the variegated topshell, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Trochidae, the top snails. Description The size of the shell varies between 15 mm and 20 mm. Distributi ...

'' except the peculiar color patterns.

Distribution

This species occurs in the Southern Indian Ocean off

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

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 ...

Habitat

This marine species occurs on eulittoral rocks.

References

* Richmond, M. (Ed.) (1997). ''A guide to the seashores of Eastern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean islands''. Sida/Department for Research Cooperation, SAREC: Stockholm, Sweden. . 448 pp. * Steyn, D.G. & Lussi, M. (1998) ''Marine Shells of South Africa. An Illustrated Collector’s Guide to Beached Shells''. Ekogilde Publishers, Hartebeespoort, South Africa, ii + 264 pp. page(s): 24
Branch, G.M. et al. (2002). ''Two Oceans''. 5th impression. David Philip, Cate Town & Johannesburg.
* 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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxystele Tabularis tabularis Gastropods described in 1848