Nassarius dorsatus explained

Nassarius dorsatus, common name the channeled nassa, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Nassariidae, the Nassa mud snails or dog whelks.^[1]

Description

The length of the shell varies between 15 mm and 45 mm.

The ovate, conical shell is smooth andof a uniform ashy white color. The spire is composed of eight whorls. The upper ones are slightly plaited, the lowest pretty large, marked with more or less straight, longitudinal lines, approximate, and of a color a little deeper and reddish. The base of the shell is ornamented with six or seven furrows. The ovate aperture is, white, fawn-colored within. The thick outer lip is arcuated towards the base, elevated exteriorly into a thick, very prominent margin. Within it is striated throughout its whole length. The left lip is thick, and partially covering the columella, which is adorned with guttules one half of its length. The first of these guttules, which is uppermost, is much more marked than the others. At the base of the columella is found a very prominent fold, terminated by a guttule formed like a flattened point.^[2]

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the tropical Western Pacific, off East India, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Australia (New South Wales, the Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia)

Parasites

• Stephanostomum-like cercariae from Australia: Cercaria capricornia VII and Cercaria capricornia VIII^[3]

References

• Röding, P.F. 1798. Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturae quae olim collegerat Joa. Hamburg : Trappii 199 pp.
• Gray, J.E. 1826. Mollusca. pp. 474–496 in King, P.P. (ed.). Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia. Performed between the years 1818 and 1822; with Appendix B. London : John Murray Vol. 2 viii 637 pp., 9 pls.
• Kiener, L.C. 1834. Spécies général et Iconographie des coquilles vivantes, comprenant la collection du Muséum d'histoire Naturelle de Paris, la collection de Lamarck, celle du Prince Massena (appartenant maintenant a M. le Baron B. Delessert) et les découvertes récentes des voyageurs. Paris : Rousseau Vol. 9.
• Reeve, L.A. 1853. Monograph of the genus Nassa. pls 1-25 in Reeve, L.A. (ed). Conchologia Iconica. London : L. Reeve Vol. 8.
  • Cernohorsky, W.O. 1984. Systematics of the family Nassariidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum. Auckland, New Zealand 14: 1-356
• Wilson, B. 1994. Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp.

Notes and References

1. Bouchet, P. (2015). Nassarius dorsatus (Röding, 1798). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=572148 on 2016-05-11
2. https://archive.org/details/generalspeciesic00kien Kiener (1840). General species and iconography of recent shells : comprising the Massena Museum, the collection of Lamarck, the collection of the Museum of Natural History, and the recent discoveries of travellers; Boston :W.D. Ticknor,1837
3. Barnett L. J., Miller T. L. & Cribb T. H. (2010). "Two new Stephanostomum-like cercariae (Digenea: Acanthocolpidae) from Nassarius dorsatus and N. olivaceus (Gastropoda: Nassariidae) in Central Queensland, Australia". Zootaxa 2445: 35–52. PDF.