''Priotrochus goudoti'' 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.WoRMS (2011). Priotrochus goudoti (Fischer, 1878). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=567726 on 2012-06-22

Description

The height of the shell attains 9 mm, its diameter 6 mm. The small, imperforate, thick shell has a conoid-elongated shape. It is whitish-ashen, punctate with rose-color, maculate with spadiceous. The 6 to 7

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 6 are convex. They are spirally cingulate, the penultimate whorls with 8 cinguli. 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 elongated, rounded in the middle, appressed below the suture, convex beneath. 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 ovate-subquadrate. The lip is crenulated. The columella is arcuate and delicately crenulated.Tryon (1889), Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
(described as ''Monilea (Priotrochus) goudoti'')

Distribution

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, the

Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...

, and the Mascarene Basin.

References

* Herbert D.G. (1988). ''Studies on Priotrochus obscurus and the systematics position of Priotrochus (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Trochidae)''. Journal of zoology 214:561–268 * Herbert D.G. (1994). ''Trochus kotschyi, the first Indian Ocean record of the genus Osilinus (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Trochidae)''. Journal of Zoology 233:345–357. * Herbert D.G. (1994). ''Notes on synonymy within the genus Priotrochus Fischer, 1879 (Prosobranchia: Trochidae).'' Annals of the Natal Museum 35:139–151

External links

*
Fischer P. 1878. Diagnoses trochorum novorum. Journal de Conchyliologie, 26: 62-67

Martens, E. von. (1880). Mollusken. Pp. 179-353, pl. 19-22 In K. Möbius, F. Richters & E. von Martens, Beiträge zur Meeresfauna der Insel Mauritius und der Seychellen. Berlin: Gutmann.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Priotrochus Goudoti goudoti Gastropods described in 1878