''Pseudostomatella decolorata'', common name the coloured stomatella, is a species of

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 Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

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 in the family Trochidae, the top snails.Bouchet, P. (2012). ''Pseudostomatella decolorata'' (Gould, 1848). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=547315 on 2012-11-23

Description

The size of the shell varies between 11 mm and 20 mm. The depressed shell is ear-shaped and rather rounded in outline. It is dead white above, with spots of milk-white and blotches of pale sanguineous especially near the suture. The four

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

s form an acute, moderately elevated spire, somewhat crenulated at the sutures. The surface is conspicuously grooved, those above the periphery having 3 or 4 smaller striae intervening. Beneath it is somewhat imbricated upwards, and barred in the intervals by the lines of growth, which do not pass over the ridges. One-half the breadth of the base adjoining the columella is plain, without striae, and banded by a raised and milk-white line. There is a slight reflection of the columella against a minute perforation. The transverse aperture is rounded-oval and nearly circular. Its interior is porcelain-white and shining.H.A. Pilsbry (1890) Manual of Conchology XII; Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1890
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Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Central Pacific and off

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and North

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

References

External links

To Encyclopedia of Life

To GenBank (8 nucleotides; 2 proteins)

To World Register of Marine Species
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q7255600 decolorata Gastropods described in 1848