Calliostoma selectum

Taxobox
name = "Calliostoma selectum"


image_caption = "Calliostoma selectum" from the Kapiti Coast, north of Wellington, New Zealand
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
ordo = Archaeogastropoda
familia = Calliostomatidae
genus = "Calliostoma"
species = "C. selectum"
binomial = "Calliostoma selectum"
binomial_authority = (Dillwyn,1817)

"Calliostoma selectum" is a species of medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc. Some authors have placed this genus in the Family Calliostomatidae, but other malacologists have left it in the family Trochidae.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand. It is found around both the North and South islands.

Habitat

This top shell is found from shallow water to 90 m off coastal sandy beaches. It is especially abundant along the Wellington west coast.

hell description

The shell is broadly conical, with a sharply angled periphery. The external colour is pinkish-buff above. The beaded cords are speckled in light brown, but without any larger maculations. The base of the shell is plain whitish, and the aperture is iridescent.

Deeper-water shells tend to be larger, more solid, taller spired, and with a more rounded periphery.

The shell height is up to 57 mm, and the width is up to 62 mm.

References

* Powell A. W. B., "New Zealand Mollusca", William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1