''Clionella bornii'' 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 ...

Clavatulidae Clavatulidae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. The family is not well differentiated morphologically. Clavatulidae was raised, based on cladistic an ...

Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 25 mm and 40 mm. (Freely translated from the original Latin description) The whitish shell is elongated and subturrited. The shell contains about 8 rather flat

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 (the apex is lacking). Just below the suture it shows a bipartite girdle. The space between the longitudinal ribs has a red color These interstices are as long as the ribs. The oblique ribs are numerous and increase from 11–12 on the early whorls to 18 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 ...

, extending almost to the

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 ...

. The spiral striae show obsolete grooves and are best seen on the early whorls. The oval

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 ...

has a length of about the length of the shell. The aperture narrows to a slender point at its top. The very short

is slightly curved to the left. The

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 slightly curved in the middle and almost twisted. The 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 narrow and shows a rather deep sinus.Jeffreys, J. G. 1876. Preliminary report of the biological results of a cruise in the H.M.S. 'Valorous' to Davis Strait in 1875. ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of London'' 25: 177-230, pls. 2-4
/ref> This species is closely allied to the well-known ''

Clionella sinuata ''Clionella sinuata'', common name the ribbed turrid, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Clavatulidae. Fossils of this species have been reported from Pleistocene localities on the west coast of South Africa. D ...

''. It differs, however, in being covered with a paler epidermis, in having below the suture a raised girdle formed by a depression or constriction around the whorls, and also in the style of coloration.

Distribution

This marine species occurs between

Jeffrey's Bay Jeffreys Bay (, nicknamed J-bay) is a town of 27,107 inhabitants as of the 2011 census in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Kouga municipality and is famous amongst surfers as a surf capital due to the right-han ...

and

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

, South Africa

References

E.A. Smith, Diagnoses of new Species of Pleurotomidae in the British Museum; ''The Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Including Zoology, Botany, and Geology''. 1877, vol. xix. p. 499
* Kilburn, R.N. (1985). ''Turridae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of southern Africa and Mozambique. Part 2. Subfamily Clavatulinae''. ''Annals of the Natal Museum''. 26(2), 417–470.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clionella Bornii Endemic molluscs of South Africa bornii Gastropods described in 1877