''Pollia undosa'', common name : the waved goblet, is a species of

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 in the family

Pisaniidae The Pisaniidae are a taxonomic family of medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Buccinoidea.Rosenberg, G. (2018). Pisaniidae Gray, 1857. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespeci ...

, the true whelks.

Description

The shell size varies between 20 mm and 45 mm, with the average size ranging from 35 mm to 40 mm. Usually the shell has dark brown ribs and orange background, but there are several different variations of color. It is an active hunter of other molluscs, feeding on snails, slugs, mussels and clams. The ovate, bi-conic shell is quite thick and solid. It is of a reddish white, and covered with a brown, velvety epidermis. The six

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 moderate, pretty distinct, and provided with decurrent, subnodulous striae, of a brownish or blackish red. The intervals are white, and furnished with very fine striae scarcely apparent. 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 together, and has five or six thick, obtuse longitudinal folds of ribs, which are rarely continued as far as the base of the shell, and oftentimes form only tubercles, particularly in old shells. The aperture is ovate, elongated, whitish, and bordered with yellow. The

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is ...

is slightly prolonged, emargination slight and oblique. The outer lip, which is thickened by age, is denticulated throughout its whole length, and furrowed internally. The columella is wrinkled and covered at its base with a thin, raised callosity.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 undosum'')

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Red Sea, in the Indian Ocean off

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 ...

, Chagos and Tanzania and in the Western Pacific Ocean (

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

). This species mainly inhabits reef and lagoons but it is widespread in a variety of different habitats.

References

Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae. ii, 824 pp.
* Dautzenberg, Ph. (1929). Contribution à l'étude de la faune de Madagascar: Mollusca marina testacea. Faune des colonies françaises, III(fasc. 4). Société d'Editions géographiques, maritimes et coloniales: Paris. 321–636, plates IV-VII pp. * Drivas, J. & M. Jay (1988). ''Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'île Maurice'' * 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 * Arianna Fulvo et Roberto Nistri (2005). ''350 coquillages du monde entier''. Delachaux et Niestlé (Paris) : 256 p. * Jerome M. Eisenberg – Conchiglie – Istituto Geografico De Agostini (1981) * Liu J.Y. uiyu(ed.). (2008). Checklist of marine biota of China seas. China Science Press. 1267 pp. * Tröndlé J. (2013) Description de Pollia krauseri n. sp. (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Buccinidae) des Iles Marquises (Polynésie française). Novapex 14(4): 93-96

External links

*
Reeflex

Reef Central
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2936604 Pisaniidae Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus