Kingdom Animalia Clade Vetigastropoda Family Trochidae Scientific name Gibbula varia Rank Species | Class Gastropoda Superfamily Trochoidea Genus Gibbula Phylum Mollusca | |
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Similar Gibbula umbilicaris, Gibbula, Gibbula ardens, Clanculus cruciatus, Gibbula divaricata | ||
Gibbula varia is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Trochidae, the top snails.
Contents
Description
The size of the shell varies between 8 mm and 15 mm. The solid, umbilicate shell has a conical shape. Its color is a dull, lusterless yellowish white or pinkish, with flexuous radiating cinereous or violaceous stripes below the suture. tTe entire surface is finely mottled and dotted with yellowish or violaceous and white. The short spire is conical, not acuminate as in Gibbula ardens and Gibbula umbilicaris. The about six whorls are flattened and separated by slightly impressed sutures. They are encircled by numerous fine striae. The body whorl is obtusely angular at the periphery. The large aperture is very oblique and is smooth within. The oblique columella is straightened. The umbilicus is funnel-shaped and whitish within.
This species is host to the ectoparasites Trochicola entericus Dollfus, 1914 and Lichomolgus trochi Canu, 1899
Distribution
This species occurs in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Atlantic Ocean off Portugal.
