''Turritella maculata'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of 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 the appropriate s ...

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

, a marine

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

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 e ...

in the

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

Turritellidae Turritellidae, common name the "tower shells" or "tower snails", is a taxonomic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the clade Sorbeoconcha. These snails are filter feeders. This method of feeding is s ...

Description

The length of the shell varies between 30 mm and 10 mm.

Distribution

The marine species occurs off

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

; in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

and in the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

References

* Melvill, J. C. (1928). The Marine Mollusca of the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and North Arabian Sea, as evidenced mainly through the collections of Captain F. W. Townsend, 1893–1914. - Addenda, Corrigenda, and Emendanda. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London. Volume 43, Part 3 (November 1928), pp. 93–117. * Haas, F. (1952) Shells collected by the Peabody Museum Expedition to the Near East, 1950 1. Mollusks from the Persian Gulf. The Nautilus 65:114-116

External links

Reeve, L.A. (1849). Monograph of the genus Turritella. In: Conchologia Iconica. vol. 5, pl. 1-11 and unpaginated text. L. Reeve & Co., London.

Adams A. & Reeve L. (1848-1850). Mollusca. In A. Adams (ed.), The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Samarang, under the command of Captain Sir Edward Belcher, C.B., F.R.A.S., F.G.S., during the years 1843-1846. Reeve & Benham, London, x + 87 pp., 24 pls. [i-x, 1-24, pls 1-9 (1848); 25-87, pls 10-24 (1850)

Watson, R.B. (1880). Mollusca of H. M. S. 'Challenger' expedition. Part VI. Turritellidae. Journal of the Linnean Society - Zoology. 15: 217-230

Tryon G.W., jr. (1886). Manual of conchology, structural and systematic, with illustrations of the species. (1)8: Naticidae, Calyptraeidae, Turritellidae, Vermetidae, Caecidae, Eulimidae, Turbonillidae, Pyramidellidae. pp. 1-461, pls. 1-79

Smith E.A. (1891). On a collection of marine shells from Aden, with sorne remarks upon the relationship of the molluscan fauna of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. (1891): 390-436, pl. 33

Gastropods.com: ''Turritella maculata''
Turritellidae Gastropods described in 1849 {{Turritellidae-stub