''Lunella cinerea'', common name the smooth moon turban, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

, a marine

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Turbinidae Turbinidae, the turban snails, are a family of small to large marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Trochoidea.Bouchet, P. (2014). Turbinidae Rafinesque, 1815. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecie ...

, the turban snails.

Description

The size of the shell varies between 20 mm and 50 mm. The solid, umbilicate shell has a depressed-globose shape with a strong spiral

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 ...

. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

is obtuse. The suture is slightly undulating. The five

whorls 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). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral d ...

are spirally lirate, and with lirulae in the interstices.G.W. Tryon (1888), Manual of Conchology X; Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
(described as ''Turbo porphyrites'' var. ''porcatus'')

Distribution

This species occurs in the tropical Indo-West Pacific, off the

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

and

Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of the Indian s ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, in the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

, and off Australia (

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

References

* Born, I. von 1778. ''Index rerum naturalium Musei Caesarei Vindobonensis, pl. 1, Testacea.'' - Verzeichniss etc. Illust. Vindobonae. Vienna : J.P. Krauss xlii 458 pp. * Gmelin J.F. 1791. ''Caroli a Linné. Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis''. Lipsiae : Georg. Emanuel. Beer Vermes. Vol. 1(Part 6) pp. 3021–3910. * Couthouy, J.P., 1839. ''Descriptions of new species of Mollusca and shells, and remarks on several polypi found in Massachusetts Bay. Boston'' J. nat. Hist. 2 : 53–111 * Reeve, L.A. 1848. ''Monograph of the genus Turbo''. pls 1-13 in Reeve, L.A. (ed). Conchologia Iconica. London : L. Reeve & Co. Vol. 4. * Wilson, B. 1993. ''Australian Marine Shells''. Prosobranch Gastropods. Kallaroo, Western Australia : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 1 408 pp. * Wilson, B. 2002. ''A Handbook to Australian Seashells on Seashores East to West and North to South''. Sydney : Reed New Holland 185 pp. * Subba Rao, N.V. 2003. ''Indian Seashells (Part 1)''. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, Occasional Paper (192): 1–416

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q7983467 cinerea Gastropods described in 1778