Rank Species | Superfamily Stromboidea Genus Laevistrombus | |
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Similar Laevistrombus, Canarium, Canarium urceus, Doxander vittatus, Laevistrombus canarium | ||
Laevistrombus turturella is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Strombidae (true conches). There are only two living species within the genus Laevistrombus; the other congener is Laevistrombus canarium, the dog conch.
Taxonomy
There is some disagreement in the literature as to whether or not this taxon and the similar-looking Laevistrombus canarium are actually separate species. Man In 'T Veld & Turck (1998) considered that L. canarium and L. turturella are distinct (yet sympatric) species, based mainly on the shell morphology and a radula comparison. However, when Cob reviewed a number of Strombus species in 2009, examining both shell characters and anatomical data including details of the genitalia, operculum and radula, he concluded that L. turturella was simply a morphotype, and therefore a synonym of L. canarium.