Monilea callifera
Encyclopedia
Monilea callifera is a species
of sea snail
, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family
Trochidae
, the top snails.
has an acute, corneous apex
. The sutures are impressed. There are about six convex whorls
, the last one rounded at the periphery but often with a tendency to be biangulate there. The sculpture
is densely finely lirate all over. The lirae are very closely and finely beaded by the oblique incremental striae which are prominent in the interliral spaces. The oblique aperture
is rounded-quadrate and conspicuously lirate within. The ten lirae extend nearly to the edge of the outer lip. The columella is short, ending below in a denticle, concave above and reflected partly over the umbilicus, and over the termination of a strong spiral funicle, which almost fills the white umbilicus.
, the Philippines
, New Caledonia
, Japan
, Sri Lanka
, the Andaman Islands
.
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...
Trochidae
Trochidae
The Trochidae, common name top snails, are a taxonomic family of very small to large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Vetigastropoda ....
, the top snails.
Description
The size of an adult shell varies between 12 mm and 24 mm. The lusterless conoidal shell is narrowly umbilicate, more or less depressed, strong and solid. Its color is whitish or yellowish, with radiating maculations or stripes above; the base unicolored or obliquely striped with the stripes often interrupted. The conoidal spireSpire (mollusc)
A spire is a descriptive term for part of the coiled shell of mollusks. The word is a convenient aid in describing shells, but it does not refer to a very precise part of shell anatomy: the spire consists of all of the whorls except for the body whorl...
has an acute, corneous apex
Apex (mollusc)
Apex is an anatomical term for the tip of the mollusc shell of a gastropod, scaphopod, or cephalopod mollusc.-Gastropods:The word "apex" is most often used to mean the tip of the spire of the shell of a gastropod...
. The sutures are impressed. There are about six convex whorls
Whorl (mollusc)
A whorl is a single, complete 360° revolution or turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell. A spiral configuration of the shell is found in of numerous gastropods, but it is also found in shelled cephalopods including Nautilus, Spirula and the large extinct subclass of cephalopods known as the...
, the last one rounded at the periphery but often with a tendency to be biangulate there. The sculpture
Sculpture (mollusc)
The sculpture of a mollusc shell is the three-dimensional ornamentation on the outer surface, as distinct from the basic shape of the shell itself or colouration. Sculpture may be concave as well as convex. Sometimes it has microscopic detail. Sculpture refers to the calcareous outer layer, not the...
is densely finely lirate all over. The lirae are very closely and finely beaded by the oblique incremental striae which are prominent in the interliral spaces. The oblique aperture
Aperture (mollusc)
The aperture is an opening in certain kinds of mollusc shells: it is the main opening of the shell, where part of the body of the animal emerges for locomotion, feeding, etc....
is rounded-quadrate and conspicuously lirate within. The ten lirae extend nearly to the edge of the outer lip. The columella is short, ending below in a denticle, concave above and reflected partly over the umbilicus, and over the termination of a strong spiral funicle, which almost fills the white umbilicus.
Distribution
This marine species occurs along the shores of AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, the Andaman Islands
Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east...
.