''Prothalotia lehmanni'', common name Lehmann's top shell, 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 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 ...

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.Bouchet, P. (2012). ''Prothalotia lehmanni'' (Menke, 1843). 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=573217 on 2012-11-23

Description

The Prothalotia lehmanni shares the corneous operculum shell specific to the Trochidae family, and has the common nacreous interior. On the small side, Lehmann's top snail ranges from 10mm to 17mm in size.Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopedia (2010). ''top shell. Encyclopedia Britannica.'' https://www.britannica.com/animal/top-shell Retrieved 8 September 2022

Distribution

This marine species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Australia and occurs off

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and

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

* Lamarck, J.B. 1822. ''Histoire naturelle des Animaux sans Vertèbres''. Paris : J.B. Lamarck Vol. 7 711 pp. * Cotton, B.C. 1959. ''South Australian Mollusca. Archaeogastropoda''. Handbook of the Flora and Fauna of South Australia. Adelaide : South Australian Government Printer 449 pp. 19(118, fig. 57 as Prothalotia ramburi (Crosse) 119, fig. 58 as Prothalotia lesueuri (Fischer); 120, fig. 59 * Macpherson, J.H. & Gabriel, C.J. 1962. ''Marine Molluscs of Victoria''. Melbourne : Melbourne University Press & National Museum of Victoria 475 pp.

External links

To Barcode of Life (1 barcode)

To GenBank (5 nucleotides; 1 proteins)

To USNM Invertebrate Zoology Mollusca Collection

To World Register of Marine Species
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q7251790 lehmanni Gastropods described in 1843