''Stomatolina sanguinea'' 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 small

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 ...

Trochidae The Trochidae, common name top-snails or top-shells, are a family of various sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the subclass Vetigastropoda. This family is commonly known as the top-snails because in many species the shell resembles ...

, the top snails.Marshall, B. (2013). Stomatolina sanguinea (A. Adams, 1850). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=720380 on 2014-04-12 This is a

taxon inquirendum In biological classification, a ''species inquirenda'' is a species of doubtful identity requiring further investigation. The use of the term in English-language biological literature dates back to at least the early nineteenth century. The ter ...

Description

The size of the shell varies between 6 mm and 18 mm. The thin shell is depressed. It is deep crimson colored, with a crescent of white bordering 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 ...

. The

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 ...

consists of rather narrow, spaced, acute spiral cords, of which there are two larger ones on the upper surface (one at the shoulder). The spaces between are occupied by intervening smaller spirals and very close, fine, microscopic spiral striae, decussated by finer radiating striae of increment. The upper whorls show low, radiating, scarcely visible folds. The base is nearly smooth, having only fine separated spiral threads with flat interspaces. All sculpture becomes obsolete in the white crescent except the fine, very oblique growth lines. The principal spirals of the upper surface are more or less distinctly beaded. The

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 of 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. Spire ...

show only two spiral carinae. The short spire is acute and contains 4½ whorls. The last are rapidly enlarging, descending toward the aperture. The oval

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 extremely oblique, reddish, and scarcely iridescent. This species may be known by the bright coral red color, or white with longitudinal stripes, usually broken into distinct squarish spots. The principal spirals above are granose. There is an astonishing amount of variation in degree of depression. The nacreous layer is excessively thin, especially in the typical form.H.A. Pilsbry (1890) Manual of Conchology XII; Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1890
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Distribution

This marine species occurs off

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and 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 ...

References

* Adams, A. 1850. ''An arrangement of Stomatellidae, including the characters of a new genus Cumingia, with some additional generic characters''. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1850(18): 29–40, pl. 8 * Higo, S., Callomon, P. & Goto, Y. (2001) ''Catalogue and Bibliography of the Marine Shell-Bearing Mollusca of Japan''. Gastropoda Bivalvia Polyplacophora Scaphopoda Type Figures. Elle Scientific Publications, Yao, Japan, 208 pp.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stomatolina Sanguinea sanguinea Gastropods described in 1850