''Turricula granobalteus'' 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 sea snail, a marine gastropod

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is es ...

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 ...

Clavatulidae.

Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 25 mm and 40 mm. The elongate-fusiform, turreted shell is rather thin. It contains ten

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. The sutures are channeled. The colour of the shell is pale buff, with rust dots between the peripheral nodules, and irregular rust streaks and splashes elsewhere.

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 ...

: On the summit of each whorl is a collar of two strong spirals. Besides, the whole surface is over-ran with fine, close, flat-topped spiral threads, amounting to about fifty-five on the body whorl. Along the shoulder runs a row of upright tubercles, twice as high as broad, and more than their own breadth apart—twenty-two on the penultimate whorl, most distinct on the earlier whorls, and gradually fading till they almost disappear on the body whorl. From these evanescent tubercles faint radials descend to the base. The trough of the deeply excavate fasciole is crossed by fine crescentic radial threads.

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 ...

:—The outer ip is thin, its edge not reflected, without internal lyrae. The sinus is wide and shallow. The

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water ...

is straight and produced. Hedley, C. 1922. A revision of the Australian Turridae. Records of the Australian Museum 13(6): 213–359, pls 42–56

Distribution

This marine species occurs off Australia (

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Au ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

) and off Japan

References

* Powell, A.W.B. 1968. ''The Turrid shellfish of Australian waters''. Australian Natural History 1 16: 1–6 * Wilson, B. 1994. ''Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods.'' Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp. * Tucker, J.K. 2004. ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda).'' Zootaxa 682: 1–1295 * Taylor, J.D. & Glover, E.A. (2004) ''Diversity and distribution of subtidal benthic molluscs from the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia; results of the 1999 dredge survey (DA2/99)''. Records of the Western Australia Museum Supplement, 66, 247–291. NIZT 6

External links

*
Indo-Pacific Mollusca; Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Delaware Museum of Natural History v. 2 no. 9-10 (1968–1969)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turricula Granobalteus granobalteus Gastropods described in 1922