''Chlorodiloma odontis'', common name the checkered top shell, 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.Bouchet, P. (2012). ''Chlorodiloma odontis'' (W. Wood, 1828). Accessed through:

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=546916 on 2012-11-23

Description

The size of the shell varies between 10 mm and 20 mm. The globose-conic shell is more or less depressed. It is imperforate or very narrowly perforate. 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 ...

is spirally finely striate, the striae becoming obsolete 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 ...

. The sharp incremental striae are microscopic. The apical

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 are white and eroded. The remainder is covered with a regular, elegant, minute reticulation formed by the intersection at right angles of two sets of obliquely descending black or bluish lines. The body whorl is subangulate at the periphery. The thin outer

lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

is acute, inside green, and beautifully iridescent. The arcuate

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...

is not dentate and is pearly edged. The umbilico-columellar area is vivid pea-green.Tryon (1889), Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
(described as ''Monodonta odontis'')

Distribution

This marine species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Australia and occurs off

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

References

* Wood, W. 1828. ''Index Testaceologicus; or A Catalogue of Shells, British and Foreign, arranged according to the Linnean system''. London : Taylor Supplement, 1-59, pls 1-8. * Adams, H. & Adams, A. 1854. ''The genera of Recent Mollusca arranged according to their organization''. London : John Van Voorst Vol. 1 pp. 257–484 * Paetel, F. 1873. ''Catalog der Conchylien-Sammlung von Fr. Paetel.'' Nebst uebersicht des angewandten Systems. Berlin : Gebrüder Paetel pp. + 1-172 * Tenison-Woods, J.E. 1879. ''Census; with brief descriptions of the marine shells of Tasmania and the adjacent islands''. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1877: 26-57 * Tenison-Woods, J.E. 1881. ''On some new marine Mollusca''. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 17: 80-83 * Pritchard, G.B. & Gatliff, J.H. 1902. ''Catalogue of the marine shells of Victoria. Part V.'' Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 14(2): 85-138 * Cotton, B.C. & Godfrey, F.K. 1934. ''South Australian Shells. Part 13''. South Australian Naturalist 1 16: 1-6 * Cotton, B.C. 1959. ''South Australian Mollusca. Archaeogastropoda''. Handbook of the Flora and Fauna of South Australia. Adelaide : South Australian Government Printer 449 pp * Macpherson, J.H. & Gabriel, C.J. 1962. ''Marine Molluscs of Victoria''. Melbourne : Melbourne University Press & National Museum of Victoria 475 pp * Phillips, D.A.B., Handreck, C., Bock, P.E., Burn, R., Smith, B.J. & Staples, D.A. (eds) 1984. ''Coastal Invertebrates of Victoria: an atlas of selected species.'' Melbourne : Marine Research Group of Victoria & Museum of Victoria 168 pp * Wilson, B. 1993. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods''. Kallaroo, Western Australia : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 1 408 pp.

External links

Encyclopedia of Life

GenBank (2 nucleotides; 0 proteins)

World Register of Marine Species
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5103056 odontis Gastropods of Australia Gastropods described in 1828