''Tritia reticulata'',

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contra ...

the "netted dog whelk", is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of small

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

an sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Nassariidae The Nassariidae, Nassa mud snails (USA), or dog whelks (UK), are a taxonomic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the clade Neogastropoda. "Dog whelk" also refers to '' Nucella lapillus''. Shell descripti ...

, the dog whelks or nassa mud snails.

Description

The length of the shell varies between 20 mm and 35 mm. The egg-shaped shell is elongated, rounded, obtuse at its lower extremity, and pointed at the upper extremity. It is moderately thick. The 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. Spires are ...

is composed of eight or nine

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 flo ...

s, almost flat, or slightly swollen, but distant from each other. Their surface is deeply chequered by longitudinal folds, crossed by numerous striae. The

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...

is moderate, white and ovate. The outer lip is thick, ornamented within with seven or eight striae, of which those of the middle are generally the largest. The

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the ...

is slightly arcuated, covered with a thin, brilliant plate. The color of this shell is of a yellowish white, reddish or chestnut-color, with a blackish blue band, passing beneath the suture.Kiener (1840). General species and iconography of recent shells : comprising the Massena Museum, the collection of Lamarck, the collection of the Museum of Natural History, and the recent discoveries of travellers; Boston :W.D. Ticknor,1837
(described as ''Buccinum reticulatum'')

Distribution

This species occurs in the Northeast Atlantic, in European waters, in the Atlantic Ocean off the

Azores ) , motto= ( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem=( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

, the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Mo ...

, Cape Verde Islands and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

References

* Pulteney, R. (1799). Catalogue of the birds, shells, and some of the more rare plants of Dorsetshire. London, Nichols, 92 pp. * Cernohorsky W. O. (1984). ''Systematics of the family Nassariidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda).'' Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum 14: 1-356. * Hayward, P.J.; Ryland, J.S. (Ed.) (1990). ''The marine fauna of the British Isles and North-West Europe: 1. Introduction and protozoans to arthropods''. Clarendon Press: Oxford, UK. . 627 pp. * Howson, C.M.; Picton, B.E. (Ed.) (1997). ''The species directory of the marine fauna and flora of the British Isles and surrounding seas''. Ulster Museum Publication, 276. The Ulster Museum: Belfast, UK. . vi, 508 (+ cd-rom) pp. * Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). ''European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification.'' Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213 * Muller, Y. (2004). ''Faune et flore du littoral du Nord, du Pas-de-Calais et de la Belgique: inventaire. oastal fauna and flora of the Nord, Pas-de-Calais and Belgium: inventory'' Commission Régionale de Biologie Région Nord Pas-de-Calais: France. 307 pp. * Rolán E., 2005. ''Malacological Fauna From The Cape Verde Archipelago. Part 1, Polyplacophora and Gastropoda.''

External links

*
Image of live specimen

Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata (10th revised edition) vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae

Röding, P. F. (1798). Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturæ quæ olim collegerat Joa. Fried Bolten, M. D. p. d. per XL. annos proto physicus Hamburgensis. Pars secunda continens Conchylia sive Testacea univalvia, bivalvia & multivalvia. Trapp, Hamburg. viii, 199 pp

Lamarck, (J.-B. M.) de. (1822). Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres. Tome septième. Paris: published by the Author, 711 pp

Gmelin, J. F. (1791). Vermes. In: Gmelin J.F. (Ed.) Caroli a Linnaei Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Ed. 13. Tome 1(6). G.E. Beer, Lipsiae

Locard, A. (1886). Prodrome de malacologie française. Catalogue général des mollusques vivants de France. Mollusques marins. Lyon: H. Georg & Paris: Baillière. x + 778 pp.

Martens, E. von. (1870). Ueber Nassa reticulata. Malakozoologische Blätter. 17: 86-88.

Galindo L.A., Puillandre N., Utge J., Lozouet P. & Bouchet P. (2016). The phylogeny and systematics of the Nassariidae revisited (Gastropoda, Buccinoidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 99: 337-353.page(s): 343
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1978994 reticulata Gastropods described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean Molluscs of the Azores Molluscs of the Canary Islands Gastropods of Cape Verde Invertebrates of North Africa