''Broderipia subiridescens'' 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 ...

Trochidae The Trochidae, common name top-snails or top-shells, are a family of various sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the subclass Vetigastropoda. This family is commonly known as the top-snails because in many species the shell resembles ...

, the top snails.

Description

The height of the shell attains 6 mm, its diameter 4 mm. The shell is limpet-shaped. Its outline is oval. The

apex The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional entities * Apex (comics) A-Bomb Abomination Absorbing Man Abraxas Abyss Abyss is the name of two characters appearing in Ameri ...

nearly attains the posterior margin. In profile the posterior slope is very short and concave; the anterior is long and convex. It is highest near the apex. The surface of the shell is nearly smooth, with microscopic concentric growth lines. Its color is white, covered with a netted pattern of dots connected by lines of red. The minute apex is recumbent, spiral, and dextral. The tip is eroded. The inside is scarcely nacreous, the color pattern showing through. This is a shell smaller than '' Broderipia iridescens'', and more convex. The apex is nearer the posterior margin. The interior is scarcely pearly. The coloration and lack of granulation distinguish it from '' Broderipia cumingii''.G.W. Tryon (1890) Manual of Conchology XII; Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1890
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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 ...

(doubtful).

References

* Dautzenberg, Ph. (1929). ''Contribution à l'étude de la faune de Madagascar: Mollusca marina testacea.'' Faune des colonies françaises, III(fasc. 4). Société d'Editions géographiques, maritimes et coloniales: Paris. 321–636, plates IV–VII pp. {{DEFAULTSORT:Broderipia Subiridescens subiridescens Gastropods described in 1890