''Pyrgospira ostrearum'', common name the oyster turrid, 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

Pseudomelatomidae Pseudomelatomidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropods included in the superfamily Conoidea (previously Conacea) and part of the Neogastropoda ( Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). In 1995 Kantor elevated the subfamily Pseudomelatomina ...

Description

The size of the shell varies between 13 mm and 25 mm. The shell is concavely, rather narrowly shouldered, with a thread-like raised line at the suture. It is closely longitudinally ribbed below the periphery and decussated by raised revolving lines. The color of the shell is dingy yellow to purplish black.G.W. Tryon (1884) Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species, vol. VI; Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences

Distribution

This species occurs in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and off the Lesser Antilles; in the Atlantic Ocean from North Carolina, USA, to Eastern Brasil; fossils have been found in

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

strata in Florida, USA, and in Panama; age range: 1.806 to 0.781 MaMa.

References

* Stearns, R.E.C. (1872a) ''Descriptions of new species of marine mollusks from the coast of Florida.'' Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History, 15, 21–24
Rosenberg, G.; Moretzsohn, F.; García, E. F. (2009). ''Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico'', Pp. 579–699 in: Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas
* A. J. W. Hendy, D. P. Buick, K. V. Bulinski, C. A. Ferguson, and A. I. Miller. 2008. Unpublished census data from Atlantic coastal plain and circum-Caribbean Neogene assemblages and taxonomic opinions.

External links

* ostrearum Gastropods described in 1872 {{Pseudomelatomidae-stub