Kingdom Animalia Class Gastropoda Superfamily Trochoidea Scientific name Clanculus margaritarius | Phylum Mollusca Clade Vetigastropoda Family Trochidae Rank Species | |
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Similar Clanculus, Clanculus pharaonius, Trochus maculatus, Monodonta labio, Monodonta canalifera | ||
Clanculus margaritarius, common name the beautiful clanculus, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Trochidae, the top snails.
Contents
Clanculus margaritarius multipunctatus Jansen, 1995: synonym of Clanculus multipunctatus Jansen, 1995
Description
The size of the shell varies between 9 mm and 20 mm. The very solid shell has an elate-conic shape. It is narrowly false-umbilicate, red or reddish brown, dotted with black; rosy at the apex. The outlines of the spire are a little concave toward the apex. The spire contains about 7 whorls. These are nearly flat above, with linear, impressed sutures. The body whorldescends anteriorly and is encircled by about 13 or 14 granose lirae every second one, or on some specimens every one articulated with black dots. The interstices are finely spirally and obliquely striate. The base of the shell is convex. The aperture is tetragonal. The outer lip bears within a strong tubercle above, and a few plicae on the outer and lower part. The short columella is oblique, with a very slight fold above, very deeply entering the profound, extremely narrow axial pit, and at the base terminating in a large squarish trifid tooth. The parietal tract is finely wrinkled. The umbilicus is bounded by a plicate rib.
Distribution
This marine species has a wide distribution. It occurs in the Central and East Indian Ocean, China, East India, Indo-China, Indo-Malaysia, Japan, Loyalty Islands, Malaysia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Oceania, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Taiwan and Queensland, Australia