''Vexillum caffrum'' 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 Costellariidae
Costellariidae sometimes called the "ribbed miters" is a taxonomic family of minute to medium-sized predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks.
This family of snails is also sometimes referred to as ''Vexillum'' miters. The main family ...
, the ribbed miters.
[MolluscaBase (2018). ''Vexillum caffrum'' (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=591539 on 2018-12-31]
Description
The length of the shell varies between 35 mm and 51 mm.
The
fusiform
Fusiform means having a spindle-like shape that is wide in the middle and tapers at both ends. It is similar to the lemon-shape, but often implies a focal broadening of a structure that continues from one or both ends, such as an aneurysm on a b ...
shell has a high
spire and an adpressed suture. It shows many axial riblets, becoming obsolete on the middle of 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 ...
. The outer
lip is
lirate, a little concave and inverted. The interior of the lip edge is dark brown. The
columella has four plaits. The short
siphonal canal
The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is ...
is open and a little recurved.
The shell is dark chocolate brown, with two or three yellow spiral zones, the upper one visible on the spire.
Tryon (1882), Manual of Conchology IV
/ref>
Distribution
Tropîcal Pacific Ocean from Indonesia to Polynesia; off Australia ( Queensland).
References
* Swainson, W. 1822. A Catalogue of the Rare and Valuable Shells, which formed the Celebrated Collection of the late Mrs Bligh. With an appendix, containing descriptions of many new species. London : Publisher unknown 78 pp.
* Cotton, B.C. 1957. Family Mitridae. Royal Society of South Australia Malacological Section 12: 8 pp.
* Cernohorsky, W.O. 1970. Systematics of the families Mitridae & Volutomitridae (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum. Auckland, New Zealand 8: 1-190
* Hinton, A. 1972. Shells of New Guinea and the central Indo-Pacific. Milton : Jacaranda Press xviii 94 pp.
* Wilson, B. (1994) Australian marine shells. Prosobranch gastropods. Vol. 2 Neogastropods. Odyssey Publishing, Kallaroo, Western Australia, 370 pp.
Externalk links
Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata (10th revised edition), vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae.
Quoy, J. R. C. & Gaimard, J. P. (1832-1835). Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe : exécuté par ordre du roi, pendant les années 1826-1827-1828-1829, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d'Urville. Zoologie. 1
Cernohorsky, Walter Oliver. The Mitridae of Fiji; The veliger vol. 8 (1965)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q14514563
caffrum
Gastropods described in 1758