''Brachytoma rufolineata'' 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 ...

Pseudomelatomidae Pseudomelatomidae is a family (biology), family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropods included in the superfamily Conoidea (previously Conacea) and part of the Neogastropoda (Taxonomy of the Gastropoda (Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005), Bouchet & Ro ...

Description

The length of the shell attains 16.5 mm, its diameter 5¾ mm. (Original description) The strong shell is broadly fusiform It is yellowish, painted and spirally lineated with red-brown. It contains nine

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). In nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral diagra ...

s, of which about 2 form a smooth

protoconch A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also called " ...

. The post-nuclear whorls are convex, with an undulated suture, accompanied by a subsutural rib or keel, below this a slight excavation. The convexly rounded whorls have scarcely a tendency to be angular below the excavation The

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

consists of strong rounded ribs, crossing, though less distinctly, the excavation, 10 in number on the

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology (biology), morphology of the gastropod shell, shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk ...

, where they nearly reach the base. There is one rib at some distance from the

peristome Peristome (from the Greek language, Greek ''peri'', meaning 'around' or 'about', and ''stoma'', 'mouth') is an anatomical feature that surrounds an opening to an organ or structure. Some plants, fungi, and shelled gastropods have peristomes. In mo ...

, just behind the upper sinus, especially strong and varix-like. The brown colour consists of. a faint tinge in the excavation. A similar zone exists below the periphery, much more conspicuous between the ribs, the principal lirae being nearly without exception red-brown, especially 4 of them on the body whorl. The spirals number from 3 to 7 on upper whorls and numerous ones on the body whorl and

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water i ...

, which cannot be divided in principal and secondary ones. The excavation is finely spirally striated, moreover very fine growth-lirae are visible in many parts, if seen with a strong lens. The

aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

is elongately oval, with a broad, moderately deep sinus below the suture. The peristome is rather thin, with a very shallow sinus near the siphonal canal, which is short and broad. The columellar margin is tubercled above, then slightly concave, then straight and slightly directed to the left at the siphonal canal, strongly enamelled in its whole length. The interior of the aperture is light purplish, nearly white near the peristome.Schepman, 1913. The prosobranchia of the Siboga expedition. Part IV -V - VI: Toxoglossa

Distribution

The marine species occurs off the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and in the Sulu Archipel.

References

External links

*
Gastropods.com: ''Brachytoma rufolineata''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brachytoma Rufolineata rufolineata Gastropods described in 1913