''Psittacodrillia diversa'' 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

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

Horaiclavidae Horaiclavidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. In 2011 this family was split off from the family Pseudomelatomidae (formerly the subfamily Crassispirinae McLean, 1971) by Bouchet P., Ka ...

Description

The length of the shell attains 14 mm, its diameter 5.5 mm. The biconic-claviform shell has about two

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 in the

protoconch A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also called ...

and five weakly convex whorls in the teleoconch. The shell shows 10 to 12 axial ribs on the early whorls and 9 to 11 on the penultimate whorl. The ribs only occupy the lower two-thirds of the whorl, the remainder being simple. The spiral striation is fine; that towards the base of the

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology of the 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. In gastropods In gastropods, the b ...

is a trifle coarser. The aperture is oblong. 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 is ...

is wide. The columella is slightly convex and has a moderately thick callus. The shell is orange-red with darker red spots in the intervals on the whorls. Smith, E.A. (1882) Diagnoses of new species of Pleurotomidae in the British Museum. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, series 5, 10, 206–218
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Distribution

This marine species occurs off Jeffrey's Bay - East Cape, South Africa

References

* Kilburn, R.N. & Rippey, E. (1982) ''Sea Shells of Southern Africa''. Macmillan South Africa, Johannesburg, xi + 249 pp. page(s): 117 * R.N. Kilburn (1988), ''Turridae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of southern Africa and Mozambique. Part 4. Subfamilies Drilliinae, Crassispirinae and Strictispirinae;'' Ann. Natal Mus. Vol. 29(1) pp. 167–320 * Steyn, D.G. & Lussi, M. (1998) Marine Shells of South Africa. An Illustrated Collector's Guide to Beached Shells. Ekogilde Publishers, Hartebeespoort, South Africa, ii + 264 pp.page(s): 152

External links

Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1-1295.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Psittacodrillia Diversa Endemic molluscs of South Africa

diversa Verenium Corporation was a San Diego, California-based industrial biotechnology company founded in 2007 as the result of a merger between Diversa (San Diego) and Celunol (Cambridge, MA). The company specialized in research and development for the ...