Lophiotoma indica
Encyclopedia
Lophiotoma indica, common name the Indian turrid, is a species
of sea snail
, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family
Turridae
, the turrids.
There is one subspecies: Lophiotoma indica queenslandica Olivera, 2004
. The shoulder angle is very slight, the central ridge forming a carina. The other revolving ridges are smaller and closer than other species in this genus. The color of the shell is yellowish-brown, sometimes indistinctly marbled or variegated.
, in the South China Sea
, along Australia
and the Fiji Islands.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of sea snail
Sea snail
Sea snail is a common name for those snails that normally live in saltwater, marine gastropod molluscs....
, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
Turridae
Turridae
Turridae, , is a large taxonomic family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks, that vary in size from minute to moderately large. With more than 4,000 species, the Turridae is the largest mollusk family and group of marine caenogastropods...
, the turrids.
There is one subspecies: Lophiotoma indica queenslandica Olivera, 2004
Description
The size of an adult shell varies between 35 mm and 90 mm. The fusiform shell is somewhat less ridged and striated and has a long siphonal canalSiphonal canal
Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is drawn into the mantle cavity and over the gill and which serves as a chemoreceptor to locate food. In many carnivorous snails, where the siphon is particularly long, the structure...
. The shoulder angle is very slight, the central ridge forming a carina. The other revolving ridges are smaller and closer than other species in this genus. The color of the shell is yellowish-brown, sometimes indistinctly marbled or variegated.
Distribution
This marine species occurs in the Mascarene Basin, along Sri LankaSri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, in the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
, along Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the Fiji Islands.