''Volema pyrum'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

, a marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Melongenidae, the crown conches and their allies.

Nomenclature

Abbott & Dance (1986: 176) treated Gmelin's name as preoccupied by Linnaeus, but Gmelin named his species as a ''Buccinum'', not a ''Murex''.

Description

The size of the adult shell varies between 40 mm and 52 mm. The shell is cream-colored (with top of the spire being darker) and somewhat pear-shaped, and is mostly smooth with faint ridges on the lower half of the body whorl. The shell of ''Volema paradisiaca'' lacks any knobs or spines.

Distribution

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

; in the Singapore Strait.

References

* Spry, J.F. (1961). ''The sea shells of Dar es Salaam: Gastropods''. Tanganyika Notes and Records 56 * Richmond, M. (Ed.) (1997). A'' guide to the seashores of Eastern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean islands''. Sida/Department for Research Cooperation, SAREC: Stockholm, Sweden. . 448 pp. * Marais J.P. & Kilburn R.N. (2010) Melongenidae. pp. 174–175, in: Marais A.P. & Seccombe A.D. (eds), Identification guide to the seashells of South Africa. Volume 1. Groenkloof: Centre for Molluscan Studies. 376 pp.

External links

*
Gmelin, J. F. (1791). Vermes. In: Gmelin J.F. (Ed.) Caroli a Linnaei Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Ed. 13. Tome 1(6). G.E. Beer, Lipsiae

Röding, P. F. (1798). Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturæ quæ olim collegerat Joa. Fried Bolten, M. D. p. d. per XL. annos proto physicus Hamburgensis. Pars secunda continens Conchylia sive Testacea univalvia, bivalvia & multivalvia. Trapp, Hamburg, viii + 199 pp.

Schumacher, C. F. (1817). Essai d'un nouveau système des habitations des vers testacés. Schultz, Copenghagen. iv + 288 pp., 22 pls

Lamarck, (J.-B. M.) de. (1822). Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres. Tome septième. Paris: published by the Author, 711 pp

Dillwyn, L. W. (1817). A descriptive catalogue of Recent shells, arranged according to the Linnean method; with particular attention to the synonymy. John and Arthur Arch, London, Vol. 1: 1-580 pp.; Vol. 2: 581-1092 pp. + index
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q7940138, from2=Q3009882 Melongenidae Gastropods described in 1791 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin