''Tectonatica violacea'', is a common name the violet moon snail, 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
predatory 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 Naticidae, the moon snails.
Description
The size of the shell varies between 12 mm and 25 mm.
Distribution
This species occurs in the Indo-West Pacific off the
Mascarene Basin; also off 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 ...
and Australia (
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 ...
)
References
* Sowerby, G.B. (1st) 1825. ''A catalogue of the shells contained in the collection of the late Earl of Tankerville : arranged according to the Lamarckian conchological system: together with an appendix, containing descriptions of many new species.'' London : printed by E.J. Stirling for G.B. Sowerby vii, 92 pp. + appendix of xxiv pp. + coloured plates.
* Wood, W. 1828. ''Index Testaceologicus; or A Catalogue of Shells, British and Foreign, arranged according to the Linnean system''. London : Taylor Supplement, pp. 1–59, pls 1-8.
* Philippi, R.A. 1852. ''Die Gattungen Natica und Amaura.'' pp. 27–120 in Küster, H.C., Martini, F.W. & Chemnitz, J.H. (eds). Systematisches Conchylien-Cabinet von Martini und Chemnitz. Nürnberg : Bauer & Raspe Vol. 2.
*
* Kilburn, R.N. 1976. ''A revision of the Naticidae of Southern Africa and Moçambique (Mollusca)''. Annals of the Natal Museum 22(3): 829-884
* Wilson, B. 1993. Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods. Kallaroo, Western Australia : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 1 408 pp.
* Kabat, A.R. 1996. ''Biogeography of the genera of Naticidae (Gastropoda) in the Indo-Pacific''. American Malacological Bulletin 12(1/2): 29-35
External links
Kabat A.R. (2000) ''Results of the Rumphius Biohistorical Expedition to Ambon (1990). Part 10. Mollusca, Gastropoda, Naticidae.'' Zoologische Mededelingen 73(25): 345-380
Naticidae
Gastropods described in 1825
{{Naticidae-stub