''Vexitomina metcalfei'' 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 Horaiclavidae
Horaiclavidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.
In 2011 this family was split off from the family Pseudomelatomidae (formerly the subfamily Crassispirinae McLean, 1971) by Bouchet P., Ka ...
.
Description
The length of the shell attains 20 mm.
The holotype is a faded shell in the
British Museum. This species varies in size, colour, and sculpture. It reaches a length of 20 mm., with nineteen tubercules on the penultimate
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 ...
, and is usually dark chestnut picked out with buff on the shoulder nodules. The
operculum is unguiculate with a terminal nucleus.
G.W. Tryon (1884) Manual of Conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species, vol. VI; Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences
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Distribution
This marine species is endemic to Australia and occurs off New South Wales and Queensland.
References
* Angas, G.F. 1867. ''Descriptions of thirty-two new species of marine shells from the coast of New South Wales''. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1867: 110–117, pl. 13
* Smith, E.A. 1879. ''On a Collection of Mollusca from Japan.'' Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1879: 181–218, pls 18-20
Hedley, C. 1922. A revision of the Australian Turridae. Records of the Australian Museum 13(6): 213-359, pls 42-56
* Powell, A.W.B. 1942. ''The New Zealand Recent and fossil Mollusca of the family Turridae with general notes on turrid nomenclature and systematics.'' Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum. Auckland, New Zealand 2: 2188
* 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.
* Powell, A.W.B. 1968. ''The Turrid shellfish of Australian waters''. Australian Natural History 1 16: 1-6
* Powell, A.W.B. 1969. ''The family Turridae in the Indo-Pacific. Part. 2. The subfamily Turriculinae.'' Indo-Pacific Mollusca 2(10): 207–415, pls 188-324
* Wilson, B. 1994. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods.'' Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp.
External links
*
Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1-1295
metcalfei
Gastropods of Australia
{{Horaiclavidae-stub