Nihonia australis
Encyclopedia
Nihonia australis 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...

 Cochlespiridae
Cochlespiridae
Cochlespiridae is a taxonomic family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.This family is not well differentiated morphologically, and there is poor congruence between the molecular and shell characters. Its limits are uncertain...

.

Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 70 mm and 95 mm. The olive-brown shell is pyramidally acuminated. The 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...

 are longitudinally stoutly ribbed, transversely very finely ridged. The 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 short. George Washington Tryon
George Washington Tryon
George Washington Tryon, Jr. was an American malacologist who worked at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.- Biography :George Washington Tryon was the son of Edward K. Tryon and Adeline Savidt...

, Manual of Conchology vol. VI p. 223; 1884 (described as Drillia turris)
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