''Perotrochus quoyanus'' 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 large

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 Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

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 ...

Pleurotomariidae Pleurotomariidae, common name the "slit snails", is a family of large marine gastropods in the superfamily Pleurotomarioidea of the subclass Vetigastropoda. This family is a very ancient lineage; there were numerous species in the geological pas ...

, the slit snails.Bouchet, P.; Rosenberg, G. (2012). ''Perotrochus quoyanus'' (P. Fischer & Bernardi, 1856). Accessed through:

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific specialist ...

at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=467973 on 2013-02-16 ;Subspecies: * ''Perotrochus quoyanus insularis'' Okutani & Goto, 1985 (synonym: ''Perotrochus insularis'' Okutani & Goto, 1985 ) * ''Perotrochus quoyanus quoyanus'' (P. Fischer & Bernardi, 1856) (synonyms: ''Pleurotomaria quoyana'' Fischer & Bernardi, 1856; ''Perotrochus gemma'' F. M. Bayer, 1966; ''Perotrochus coltrorum'' Rios, 2003)

Description

The shell of ''Perotrochus quoyanus quoyanus'' has a trochiform shape. It is obtusely carinated, with the base rounded, flattened and concave but not umbilicated. 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 turbinate, terminating in an acuminate apex. The nine, granulose

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 are slowly increasing. They are rounded and swollen toward the suture. They are divided into two unequal portions by the slit fasciole. The slit fascicle below the middle is decussated by semicircular and spiral striae. The slit is quite wide, but short. The umbilical depression is excavated, nacreous, iridescent, and surrounded by slight concentric grooves. The semioval

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 nacreous within. The columellar margin is recurved with a nacreous callosity. The nearly sharp outer lip is not reflexed. The color of the shell is pale rose, with obscure dashes or flammules of reddish brown. G.W. Tryon (1890), Manual of Conchology vol. XII, p. 69

Distribution

This species occurs in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

and the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc betwe ...

.
Fresh-dead (crabbed) shells have been trapped offshore West coast BARBADOS, at depths around 180-200 metres.
Living specimens were recovered during the late 1980s, via Johnson Sea-Link II submersible, operating from R.V. Seward Johnson of Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at greater depths, 2-3 miles offshore West coast Barbados.

References

External links

Encyclopedia of Life

To ITIS

To World Register of Marine Species
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3709508 Pleurotomariidae Gastropods described in 1856