''Turbo militaris'', common name the military turban, 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), ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

Turbinidae Turbinidae, the turban snails, are a family of small to large marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Trochoidea.Bouchet, P. (2014). Turbinidae Rafinesque, 1815. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecie ...

. This species is also often confused with ''

Turbo imperialis ''Turbo imperialis'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turbinidae, the turban snails. ''T. imperialis'' is fished commercially for its pearly shell, and is often confused with ''T. marmoratus''; both species ...

''.The Natural History Museum websit

accessed 9 April 2014

Description

The length of the shell varies between 60 mm and 100 mm. The large, solid shell has rounded Whorl (mollusc), whorls. It is variable in its external morphology, due to the presence or absence of spines. There are both smooth (except for growth striae close the lips) and spiny forms (with two rows of open-fronted spines on the

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology (biology), morphology of the gastropod shell, 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 ...

). There are also forms with a morphology between these two extremes. They also differ in the presence of the anterior canal, which is almost non-existent in the smooth forms, but prominent in the spiny forms. These two forms can be found together on the same site. The

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 subcircular and pearly white within. The simple outer

lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

is rather thin. The color pattern of the shell is formed by spiral bands of brown or green over a fawn background. 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 ...

is smooth with a white callus with green edges. The subcircular operculum is calcareous. Its outer surface is white with a slight amount of green.

Distribution

This marine species occurs off Australia from North

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 ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia

References

* Gmelin J.F. 1791. Caroli a Linné. Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Lipsiae : Georg. Emanuel. Beer Vermes. Vol. 1(Part 6) pp. 3021–3910 * Reeve, L.A. 1848. ''Monograph of the genus Turbo. pls 1–13'' in Reeve, L.A. (ed). Conchologia Iconica. London : L. Reeve & Co. Vol. 4. * Allan, J.K. 1950. ''Australian Shells: with related animals living in the sea, in freshwater and on the land''. Melbourne : Georgian House xix, 470 pp., 45 pls, 112 text figs. * Iredale, T. & McMichael, D.F. 1962. ''A reference list of the marine Mollusca of New South Wales''. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 11: 1–109 * * Cernohorsky, W.O. 1978. ''Tropical Pacific marine shells''. Sydney : Pacific Publications 352 pp., 68 pls * Wilson, B. 1993. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods''. Kallaroo, Western Australia : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 1 408 pp. * Alf, A. & Kreipl, K. 2003. ''A Conchological Iconography: The Family Turbinidae, Subfamily Turbininae, Genus Turbo''. Hackenheim, Germany : ConchBooks 68 pp., 95 colour plates. * Williams, S.T. (2007). ''Origins and diversification of Indo-West Pacific marine fauna: evolutionary history and biogeography of turban shells (Gastropoda, Turbinidae).'' Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2007, 92, 573–592. * Alf A. & Kreipl K. (2011) ''The family Turbinidae. Subfamily Turbinidae, Genus Turbo''. Errata, corrections and new information on the genera Lunella, Modelia and Turbo (vol. I). In: G.T. Poppe & K. Groh (eds), A Conchological Iconography. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. pp. 69–72, pls 96–103

External links

*
Seashells of New South Wales: ''Turbo (Dinassovica) militaris''

Steven Smith, Margie Möhring, Adam Davey: ''Variation in the external morphology of Turbo militaris'', Reeve, 1848
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7853866 militaris Gastropods of Australia Gastropods described in 1848