Pulchrastele Explained

Pulchrastele septenarium is a species of sea snail in the family Trochidae, the top snails. It is the only described species in the genus Pulchrastele.

Description

The shell grows to a length of 13 mm. The solid, pyramidally conical shell is deeply but narrowly umbilicate. The seven whorls are all, with the exception of the two apical which are smooth and glossy, closely spirally seven-ribbed. These ribs are thickly and regularly formed of gemmae (buds or bud-like growth), contiguous and crowded. The interstices between these beaded riblets are indistinctly obliquely striated. The body whorl is sharply angled at the periphery. At the base there are eight or nine concentric rows of the same kind of beaded ribs as under the whorls. The interstices are very similarly obliquely striate. The aperture is square. The outer lip is slightly thickened, whilst at the columellar margin a small central tooth is observable.^[1]

Distribution

This marine species is endemic to Australia and occurs off the Northern Territory and Queensland.

References

• Iredale, T. 1929. Queensland molluscan notes, No. 1. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 9(3): 261–297, pls 30–31
• Keen, A.M. & Cox, L.R. 1960. Trochinae, Calliostomatinae. pp. i-xxiii, 1–351 in Moore, R.C. (ed.). Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology. Part I. Mollusca 1. Boulder, Colorado & Lawrence, Kansas: Geological Society of America & University of Kansas Press xxiii + 351 pp
• Wilson, B. 1993. Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods. Kallaroo, Western Australia: Odyssey Publishing Vol. 1 408 pp.
• Jansen, P. 1995. A review of the genus Clanculus Montfort, 1810 (Gastropoda: Trochidae) in Australia, with description of a new subspecies and the introduction of a nomen novum. Vita Marina 43(1–2): 39-62

Notes and References

1. https://archive.org/details/journaloflinnean2718991900linn Melvill, J.C. & Standen, R. 1899. Report on the marine Mollusca obtained during the first expedition of Prof. A.C. Haddon to the Torres Straits in 1888-89.; The Journal of the Linnean Society of London v.27 (1899-1900)