''Tegula rustica'' 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

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 ...

Tegulidae Tegulidae is a family of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Trochoidea (according to the taxonomy of the Gastropoda by Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005).Bouchet, P. (2013). Tegulidae Kuroda, Habe & Oyama, 1971. Access ...

.MolluscaBase eds. (2022). MolluscaBase. Tegula rustica (Gmelin, 1791). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=828305 on 2022-04-24

Description

The height of the shell attains 33 mm, its diameter 32 mm. The umbilicate, heavy, solid shell has a conic shape. It is chocolate-colored or brownish-olivaceous. The conical

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

is more or less elevated. The suture is distinctly impressed. The 6–7

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 moderately convex or nearly flat, sometimes tumid just below the sutures, and either smooth or longitudinally plicate. The folds are usually obsolescent, and visible only for a short distance below the sutures. The shell is spirally obsoletely striate. 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 ...

is obtusely angular at the periphery. The base of the shell is nearly flat. The

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

is very oblique. The

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...

shows one or two teeth below, expanded above in a white callus, which half surrounds the narrow, deep circular umbilicus.Tryon (1889), Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
/ref>

Distribution

This marine species occurs off

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

References

* Williams S.T., Karube S. & Ozawa T. (2008) ''Molecular systematics of Vetigastropoda: Trochidae, Turbinidae and Trochoidea redefined.'' Zoologica Scripta 37: 483–506

External links

Gmelin J.F. (1791). Vermes. In: Gmelin J.F. (Ed.) Caroli a Linnaei Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Ed. 13. Tome 1(6). G.E. Beer, Lipsiae
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tegula Rustica rustica Gastropods described in 1791 Marine gastropods