Amoria damonii is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of sea snail

Sea snail

Sea snail is a common name for those snails that normally live in saltwater, marine gastropod molluscs....

, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Volutidae

Volutidae

Volutidae, common name volutes, are a taxonomic family of predatory sea snails that range in size from 9 mm to over 500 mm, marine gastropod mollusks...

, the volutes. It forms a complex of attractive, large shells which has been studied extensively by Abbottsmith.

Description

Amoria damonii has a large size of 10 cm or more. The protoconch

Protoconch

A protoconch is an embryonic or larval shell of some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod...

 is domed, white on the early whorls, tawny later. The spire is conical with a deep-set suture.

Distribution

The Amoria damonii complex includes four large, evidently correlated populations of Amoria, whose distribution extends from Cape Leeuwin

Cape Leeuwin

Cape Leeuwin is the most south-westerly mainland point of the Australian Continent, in the state of Western Australia.A few small islands and rocks, the St Alouarn Islands, extend further to the south. The nearest settlement, north of the cape, is Augusta. South-east of Cape Leeuwin, the coast...

 (S.W. Australia) to the northern east coast of Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, i.e. for more than 6,500 km of coastline. Such a large range, rare in Volutidae

Volutidae

Volutidae, common name volutes, are a taxonomic family of predatory sea snails that range in size from 9 mm to over 500 mm, marine gastropod mollusks...

, is even more unusual for an Amoria. This long stretch of coastline implies genetic differentiation and favours polytypism, giving rise to many taxonomic problems.

Taxonomy

According to Bail et al. (2001) the following taxa can be differentiated:

Amoria (Amoria) damonii damonii Gray 1864

= reticulata (Reeve, 1844)

= hedleyi (Iredale, 1914)

Amoria (Amoria) damonii forma keatsiana Ludbrook, 1953

= gatliffi (Sowerby III, 1910)

Amoria (Amoria) damonii reevei (Sowerby II, 1864)
Amoria (Amoria) damonii ludbrookae Bail & Limpus, 1997