''Nassarius olivaceus'', common name: the olivaceous nassa, 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 ...

mollusc Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

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 ...

Nassariidae The Nassariidae, Nassa mud snails (US), or dog whelks (UK) are a taxonomic family of small to medium-sized snails, mostly marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Neogastropoda. These snails have rounded shells with a high spire, an oval ap ...

, the nassa mud snails or dog whelks.

Description

The shell size varies between 25 mm and 50 mm The ovate, conical shell is of a reddish or olive color. It is composed of eight or nine

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 lowest of which composes nearly half of the shell. It is smooth, slightly arcuated, and often ornamented upon each whorl with a whitish band. When young, it is marked with convex, longitudinal folds, which are intersected at the base of 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 ...

only, by five or six pretty deep transverse striae. Upon the upper whorls the folds are much more close, and also more prominent, than upon the lowest, where they often disappear altogether. The edge of the

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 ...

is whitish, ovate, notched at both ends, the cavity of an ash color. The notch above is small, placed upon the upper edge of 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 ...

, where it is contracted to the form of a small canal. The emargination of the base is arched. The outer lip is thick, margined exteriorly, crenulated indistinctly upon the lower edge, and marked within with very distinct, transverse striae. The left lip is continued in front, in a thin leaf which extends a little over 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 ...

. It is smooth interiorly, and edged throughout its whole length with a row of small drops.Kiener (1840). General species and iconography of recent shells : comprising the Massena Museum, the collection of Lamarck, the collection of the Museum of Natural History, and the recent discoveries of travellers; Boston :W.D. Ticknor,1837
(described as ''Buccinum olivaceum'')

Distribution

This species occurs in the Central and East 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 ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

; off

East India East India is a region consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The states of Bihar and West Bengal lie on the Indo-Gangetic plain. Jharkhan ...

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, 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 mari ...

, Indo-Malaysia,

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, the

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 ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

and Australia (

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

)

Parasites

* '' Stephanostomum''-like cercariae from Australia: ''

Cercaria capricornia A cercaria (plural cercariae) is a larval form of the trematode class of parasites. It develops within the germinal cells of the sporocyst or redia. A cercaria has a tapering head with large penetration glands. It may or may not have a long swim ...

'' VIIBarnett L. J., Miller T. L. & Cribb T. H. (2010). "Two new ''Stephanostomum''-like cercariae (Digenea: Acanthocolpidae) from ''

Nassarius dorsatus ''Nassarius dorsatus'', common name the channeled nassa, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Nassariidae, the Nassa mud snails or dog whelks.Bouchet, P. (2015). Nassarius dorsatus (Röding, 1798). In: MolluscaBase ...

'' and ''N. olivaceus'' (Gastropoda: Nassariidae) in Central Queensland, Australia". ''

Zootaxa ''Zootaxa'' is a peer-reviewed scientific mega journal for animal taxonomists. It is published by Magnolia Press (Auckland, New Zealand). The journal was established by Zhi-Qiang Zhang in 2001 and new issues are published multiple times a week ...

'' 2445: 35–52
PDF

References

* Bruguière, J.G. 1789. ''Buccinum. Encyclopédie Méthodique ou par de matieres.'' Historie Naturelle des Vers et Mollusques 1: 236–285 * 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 * Adams, A. 1852. Catalogue of the species of Nassa, a genus of Gasteropodous Mollusca, belonging to the family Buccinidae, in the Collection of Hugh Cuming, Esq., with the description of some new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1851(19): 94–112 * Rousseau, L. 1854. ''Voyage au Pôle Sud et dans l'Océanie sur les corvettes l'Astrolabe et la Zélée'', exécuté ... pendant ... 1837–1840, sous le commandemant de M.J. Dumont d'Urville ... publié ... sous la direction supérieure de M. Jacquinot, etc. 5: Zoologie. Description des mollusques, coquilles et zoophytes. Paris : Publisher unknown 132 pp. * Pease, W.H. 1868. ''Description of sixty-five new species of marine gastropodae, inhabiting Polynesia.'' American Journal of Conchology 3(4): 271–297 * Cossmann, M. 1903. ''Faune Pliocénique de Karikal (Inde Française).'' Journal de Conchyliologie 51: 105–173, pls 3–6 * Dautzenberg, Ph. (1929). ''Mollusques testacés marins de Madagascar''. Faune des Colonies Francaises, Tome III * Spry, J.F. (1961). ''The sea shells of Dar es Salaam: Gastropods''. Tanganyika Notes and Records 56 * Cernohorsky W. O. (1984). ''Systematics of the family Nassariidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum 14: 1–356. * Drivas, J. & M. Jay (1988). ''Coquillages de La Réunion et de l'île Maurice'' * Wilson, B. 1994. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods''. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp. * Richmond, M. (Ed.) (1997). ''A guide to the seashores of Eastern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean islands''. Sida/Department for Research Cooperation, SAREC: Stockholm, Sweden. . 448 pp.

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q6967495 olivaceus Gastropods described in 1791 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin