''Tomopleura subtilinea'' 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

Borsoniidae Borsoniidae is a monophyletic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.Bouchet, P. (2011). Borsoniidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.o ...

.WoRMS (2015). Tomopleura subtilinea. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=432888 on 2016-03-27

Description

The length of the shell attains 23 mm, its width 8 mm. (Original description) The shell is rather large and solid, cylindro-conic, tapering evenly. It contains 10

whorls 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 d ...

. Its colour is uniform grey. Sculpture :—On the penultimate whorl are five larger and five smaller spirals. 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 ...

are twenty-five spirals, of which seven are on the snout, besides uncounted threads, one in each of the broader furrows. Numerous close-set radial threads lattice the spaces between the main spirals, but do not cross them. Three spirals run along the fasciole, the outer rows of radial bars there contained are set in chevron. The aperture is pyriform. The outer lip is simple. The notch on the shoulder is rather deeply incised. Hedley, C. 1922. A revision of the Australian Turridae. Records of the Australian Museum 13(6): 213–359, pls 42–56
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Distribution

This marine species is endemic to Australia and occurs off New South Wales and Queensland

References

* Laseron, C. 1954. ''Revision of the New South Wales Turridae (Mollusca).'' Australian Zoological Handbook. Sydney : Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales 1–56, pls 1–12. * Wilson, B. 1994. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods''. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomopleura Subtilinea subtilinea Gastropods of Australia Gastropods described in 1918