''Spectamen mutabile'' 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 * 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 in the family

Solariellidae Solariellidae is a family of small sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Trochoidea (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).Gofas, S. (2011). Solariellidae. Accessed through: World Register of ...

.Bouchet, P. (2013). Spectamen mutabilis (Schepman, 1908). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=741733 on 2013-12-09 ;Variety: * ''Spectamen mutabile var. plicifera'' (Schepman, 1908)

Description

(Original description by M. Schepman) The height of the shell attains 4¾ mm, its diameter 6 mm. The trochiform shell is moderately strong. it is yellowish, with a rose coloured zone on the upper part of the lower

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, the upper ones are nacreous. The shell contains 5½ whorls. The nucleus is smooth, followed by a whorl with 4 or 5 raised striae, and by about four ones provided with two distinct keels, of which one, at a little distance from the suture, the other one at the periphery, accompanied on 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 ...

by a third keel, at a little distance from the periphery, nearly on the base. These three keels are in typical specimens adorned by sharp nodules, about 30 on the upper keel, 38 on the peripheral one, and 34 on the visible part of the lower one. Moreover there are 2 raised spiral striae between suture and upper keel, 5 between this and the peripheral one and 2 in the space between periphery and lower keel. This concerns the body whorl; on the upper ones, the finer sculpture disappears gradually. The umbilicus is bordered by a row of coarse, compressed beads, 17 in number. The space between the basal and the umbilical keel contains 5 smooth lirae. The lower whorls have a distinct, nearly horizontal space, from the suture towards the upper keel, with small, radiating plicae, corresponding to the nodules. The spaces above and below the peripheral keel are slightly concave, the suture laying by this construction in a sort of canal. The base of the shell is nearly flat, but slightly convex. The umbilicus is funnel-shaped, rather large, pervious, its wall with raised, concentric and radiating striae, more or less beade. The aperture is rounded-quadrangular, with angles at the ends of the keels, especially of the umbilical one. The margin is sharp. The columella is curved and slightly reflected at the upper part. The interior of aperture is smooth and nacreous. The operculum is many-whorled, outer 2 whorls broad;. The whorlsare sculptured by radiating and concentric striae, causing a latticed appearance, radiating striae stronger on the distal half of each whorl.Schepman 1908-1913, The Prosobranchia of the Siboga Expedition; Leyden,E. J. Brill,1908-13
(described as ''Solariella mutabilis'')

Distribution

This marine species occurs off Timor, Indonesia.

References

External links

World Register of Marine Species

Williams S.T., Smith L.M., Herbert D.G., Marshall B.A., Warén A., Kiel S., Dyal P., Linse K., Vilvens C. & Kano Y. (2013) ''Cenozoic climate change and diversification on the continental shelf and slope: evolution of gastropod diversity in the family Solariellidae (Trochoidea).'' Ecology and Evolution 3(4): 887–917
{{Commons category mutabile Gastropods described in 1908