Vexillum caffrum explained

Vexillum caffrum is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk, in the family Costellariidae, the ribbed miters.^[1]

Description

The length of the shell varies between 35 mm and 51 mm.

The fusiform shell has a high spire and an adpressed suture. It shows many axial riblets, becoming obsolete on the middle of the body whorl. The outer lip is lirate, a little concave and inverted. The interior of the lip edge is dark brown. The columella has four plaits. The short siphonal canal is open and a little recurved.

The shell is dark chocolate brown, with two or three yellow spiral zones, the upper one visible on the spire.^[2]

Distribution

Tropîcal Pacific Ocean from Indonesia to Polynesia; off Australia (Queensland).

References

• Swainson, W. 1822. A Catalogue of the Rare and Valuable Shells, which formed the Celebrated Collection of the late Mrs Bligh. With an appendix, containing descriptions of many new species. London : Publisher unknown 78 pp.
• Cotton, B.C. 1957. Family Mitridae. Royal Society of South Australia Malacological Section 12: 8 pp.
• Cernohorsky, W.O. 1970. Systematics of the families Mitridae & Volutomitridae (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum. Auckland, New Zealand 8: 1-190
• Hinton, A. 1972. Shells of New Guinea and the central Indo-Pacific. Milton : Jacaranda Press xviii 94 pp.
• Wilson, B. (1994) Australian marine shells. Prosobranch gastropods. Vol. 2 Neogastropods. Odyssey Publishing, Kallaroo, Western Australia, 370 pp.

Externalk links

• Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata (10th revised edition), vol. 1: 824 pp. Laurentius Salvius: Holmiae.
• Quoy, J. R. C. & Gaimard, J. P. (1832-1835). Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe : exécuté par ordre du roi, pendant les années 1826-1827-1828-1829, sous le commandement de M. J. Dumont d'Urville. Zoologie. 1
• Cernohorsky, Walter Oliver. The Mitridae of Fiji; The veliger vol. 8 (1965)

Notes and References

1. MolluscaBase (2018). Vexillum caffrum (Linnaeus, 1758). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=591539 on 2018-12-31
2. http://ia600506.us.archive.org/8/items/manualconch04tryorich/manualconch04tryorich.pdf Tryon (1882), Manual of Conchology IV