''Tomopleura'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
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 ...
s,
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 ...
s 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 ...
Borsoniidae
Borsoniidae is a monophyletic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.Bouchet, P. (2011). Borsoniidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/ ...
.
Description
The
fusiform
Fusiform (from Latin ''fusus'' ‘spindle’) means having a spindle (textiles), spindle-like shape that is wide in the middle and tapers at both ends. It is similar to the lemon (geometry), lemon-shape, but often implies a focal broadening of a ...
shell with a high
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 ...
and a truncate base is light-built with a deep, reverse "U-shaped" anal sinus on the shoulder slope and a tall, straight-sided conical
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 ...
. The
apex
The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to:
Arts and media Fictional entities
* Apex (comics)
A-Bomb
Abomination
Absorbing Man
Abraxas
Abyss
Abyss is the name of two characters appearing in Ameri ...
is truncate. 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 ...
of the shell shows strong spiral lirae and spiral keels with fine axial threads in the interstices. There is a spiral ridge at the lower
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
radula
The radula (; : radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by mollusks for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters ...
is of the toxoglossan type.
Distribution
Species in this marine genus occur in Central and East
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
, off
East Africa
East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...
, India (E),
Indo-China
Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, the
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
,
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 ...
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 ...
,
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
).
Species
According to the
World Register of Marine Species
The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms.
Content
The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...
(WoRMS), the following species with valid names are included within the genus ''Tomopleura'' :
* ''
Tomopleura bellardii''
(Jousseaume, 1883)
* ''
Tomopleura carrota''
(Laseron, 1954)
* ''
Tomopleura cicatrigula''
(Hedley, 1922)
* † ''
Tomopleura clifdenica''
Powell, 1942
* ''
Tomopleura coffea''
(Thiele, 1925)
* † ''
Tomopleura crassispiralis''
(Marwick, 1929)
* ''
Tomopleura dilecta''
(Hedley, 1903)
* † ''
Tomopleura excavata''
(Hutton, 1877)
* † ''
Tomopleura finlayi''
Powell, 1942
* † ''
Tomopleura furcata''
Harzhauser, Raven & Landau, 2018
* ''
Tomopleura fuscocincta''
Gofas & Rolán, 2009
* ''
Tomopleura nivea''
(Philippi, 1851)
* ''
Tomopleura oscitans''
Kilburn, 1986
* ''
Tomopleura pouloensis''
Jousseaume, 1883 Chen-Kwoh Chang,'' Small Turrids of Taiwan'' Chapter 10, p. 98, June 1, 2001
/ref>
* '' Tomopleura reciproca'' (Gould, 1860)
* '' Tomopleura regina'' (Thiele, 1925)
* '' Tomopleura retusispirata'' (Smith E. A., 1877)
* '' Tomopleura spiralissima'' Gofas & Rolán, 2009 - synonyms = Asthenotoma spiralis (Smith, 1872), ''Pleurotoma spiralis'', Smith, 1872
References
* Kilburn R.N. (1986). Turridae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of southern Africa and Mozambique. Part 3. Subfamily Borsoniinae. Annals of the Natal Museum. 27: 633-720.
External links
Casey T.L. (1904) ''Notes on the Pleurotomidae with description of some new genera and species.'' Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, 14, 123–170
Bouchet P., Kantor Yu.I., Sysoev A. & Puillandre N. (2011) A new operational classification of the Conoidea. Journal of Molluscan Studies 77: 273-308
*
{{Borsoniidae-stub