Phorcus atratus

Phorcus atratus is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Trochidae, the top snails.[1][2]

Phorcus atratus
A shell of Phorcus atratus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Vetigastropoda
Order: Trochida
Superfamily: Trochoidea
Family: Trochidae
Genus: Phorcus
Species:
P. atratus
Binomial name
Phorcus atratus
(Wood, 1828)
Synonyms[1]
  • Monodonta colubrina Gould, A.A., 1849
  • Monodonta tamsi Dunker
  • Monodonta tesselata Deshayes, G.P.
  • Osilinus atratus (Wood, 1828)
  • Osilinus atratus selvagensis Talavera 1978
  • Osilinus atratus trappei Nordsieck, 1974
  • Trochus atratus Wood W., 1828 (original description)
  • Trochus tamsii Dunker in Philippi, 1845

Description

The height of the shell varies between 17 mm and 24 mm, its diameter between 16 mm and 19 mm. The solid, imperforate shell has a conical shape. The spire is conical. The apical whorls are eroded, the following dull cinereous or purplish-black, marked with several spiral rows of white spots, or with longitudinal zigzag white stripes. The base of the shell is generally tessellated or striped with white. The shell contains 5 to 6 whorls. The upper ones are marked with spiral impressed lines in young specimens, and two carinae, the latter giving the body whorl a squarish form. The aperture is oblique. The lip is not much thickened within. The short columella is obsoletely subdentate at its base. Above at the insertion it shows a heavy white callous spread upon the base, invading the umbilicus, and wholly closing it, or leaving only a narrow pit.

This species is quite variable in coloration, the white appearing either in oblique zigzags or in spots. The young are perforate.[3]

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the following locations:[1]

References
  1. Phorcus atratus (Wood, 1828). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 18 December 2018.
  2. Donald K.M., Preston J., Williams S.T., Reid D.R., Winter D., Alvarez R., Buge B., Hawkins S.J., Templado J. & Spencer H.G. 2012. Phylogenetic relationships elucidate colonization patterns in the intertidal grazers Osilinus Philippi, 1847 and Phorcus Risso, 1826 (Gastropoda: Trochidae) in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 62(1): 35–45
  3. Tryon (1889), Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia (described as Monodonta tamsi)
  • Wood W., 1828: Supplement to the Index Testaceologicus or a catalogue of shells, British and foreign ; London, privately published; pp. VI + 59 + 8 pl
  • Nordsieck F., 1974: Il genere Osilinus Philippi, 1847 nei mari europei ; La Conchiglia 9-10 (67-68): 21-23
  • Talavera F.G., 1978: Moluscos marinos de las Islas Salvajes. In: Contribución al estudio de la historia natural de las Islas Salvajes; * Aula de Cultura de Tenerife p. 119-128, 1 pl.
  • "Osilinus atratus atratus". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
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