''Cymbiola aulica'', also known as the princely or courtier volute
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), ...
of
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 ...
Volutidae
Volutidae, common name volutes, are a taxonomic family of predatory sea snails that range in size from 9 mm to over 500 mm. They are marine gastropod mollusks. Most of the species have no operculum.
Distribution
This family of sea s ...
, the volutes.
Subspecies
* ''Cymbiola aulica aulica'' Sowerby, G.B. I, 1825
* ''Cymbiola aulica cathcartiae'' L. A. Reeve, 1856
Distribution
This species is present in the Southern
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 ...
(
Sulu Sea
The Sulu Sea (; Tausug: ''Dagat sin Sūg''; ; ) is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipela ...
).
[
]
Description
Shells of ''Cymbiola aulica'' can reach a size of .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 ...
shows six plaits.Tertiary Volutidae of South-Eastern Australia
/ref> The aperture is usually wide orange with hues of greyish blue. The colour pattern of the external surface of these Schnecke is very variable, ranging from reddish to orange or whitish with brown markings and zig zag lines.
Habitat
These sea snails live in sandy and muddy substrate at depths of 5 to 40 m.
Bibliography
* Bail P. & Poppe G.T. 2001. A conchological iconography: a taxonomic introduction of the recent Volutidae. ConchBooks, Hackenheim.
* Harald Douté, M. A. Fontana Angioy - Volutes, The Doute collection
* Hsi-Jen Tao - Shells of Taiwan Illustrated in Colour - National Museum of Natural Science
* MacDonald & Co (1979) The MacDonald Encyclopedia of Shells. MacDonald & Co. London & Sydney
*Springsteen, F.J. & Leobrera, F.M. 1986. Shells of the Philippines. Carfel Seashell Museum, Philippines
References
External links
Encyclopedia of life
Volutidae
Gastropods described in 1825
{{Volutidae-stub