''Psittacodrillia bairstowi'' 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 Horaiclavidae
Horaiclavidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.
In 2011 this family was split off from the family Pseudomelatomidae (formerly the subfamily Crassispirinae McLean, 1971) by Bouchet P., Ka ...
.
Description
The length of the shell varies between 9 mm and 12 mm.
The characters of the shell resemble those of ''
Psittacodrillia albonodulosa''
(Smith E. A., 1904), but the fifth whorl has 11 axial ribs. Its color is white with dark reddish streaks between the ribs. The apex is pailliform. The shell shows spiral threads overall.
Distribution
This marine species occurs off
False Bay – North Transkei. South Africa
References
* Sowerby, G. B III. 1886. ''Marine shells of South Africa, collected at Port Elizabeth, with descriptions of some species''. J. Conch. Lond. 5: 1–13.
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)* Thiele, J. 1925. ''Gastropoda der Deutschen Tiefsee-Expedition. II Teil''. Wiss. Ergebn. dt. Tiefsee Exped. 'Valdivia' 17: 37–382.
* Kilburn, R.N. & Rippey, E. (1982) ''Sea Shells of Southern Africa''. Macmillan South Africa, Johannesburg, xi + 249 pp. page(s): 117
* Kilburn R.N. (1988), ''Turridae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of southern Africa and Mozambique. Part 4. Subfamilies Drilliinae, Crassispirinae and Strictispirinae;'' Ann. Natal Mus. Vol. 29(1) pp. 167–320
* Steyn, D.G. & Lussi, M. (1998) ''Marine Shells of South Africa. An Illustrated Collector’s Guide to Beached Shells''. Ekogilde Publishers, Hartebeespoort, South Africa, ii + 264 pp. page(s): 152
External links
Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1–1295.*
Endemic molluscs of South Africa
bairstowi
{{Horaiclavidae-stub