''Pseudominolia articulata'' 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
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
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* 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 in the
family Trochidae, the top snails.
[WoRMS (2012). ''Pseudominolia articulata'' (Gould, 1861). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=567723 on 2012-11-23]
Description
The height of the shell attains 6 mm, its diameter 7 mm. The shell horn is colored with spots of brown, which equally divide the space with ground color on the spiral keels. There is a line of commashaped spots which extend from the summit into the flat space anterior to it. The 2½ white, nuclear
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 small, well rounded and smooth. The shell contains 3⅓ postnuclear whorls. The first two are marked by three strong lamellar spiral keels, the last by four between the summit and the periphery. The keels are equally spaced, the fourth being at the periphery, while the first is a little further from the summit than it is from its neighbor anteriorly. In addition to the spiral
sculpture, the whorls are marked by very slender, closely spaced, axial threads which are best developed in the spaces between the spiral cords. The periphery and the base are well rounded, the latter broadly umbilicated and marked by 10 depressed spiral cords which are truncated posteriorly and slope gently anteriorly. The whole has the appearance of a series of imbricating bands. In addition to these, there are three cords in the
umbilicus wider and stronger than those on the base. These cords are crossed by closely spaced riblets which give them a peculiarly notched appearance. The
aperture is subcircular. The outer
lip is rendered sinuous by the spiral keels. The slender
columella is strongly curved. The parietal wall is covered with a thin callus.
P. Bartsch (1915), Report on the Turton collection of South African marine mollusks, with additional notes on other South African shells contained in the United States National Museum; Bulletin of the United States National Museum v. 91 (1915)
/ref>
Distribution
This marine species occurs off Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
, South Africa.
References
External links
To World Register of Marine Species
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7254978
articulata
Gastropods described in 1861