Struthiolaria vermis vermis

Taxobox
name = "Struthiolaria vermis vermis"


status =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Mollusca
classis = Gastropoda
sub_classis = Prosobranchia
ordo = Mesogastropoda
familia = Struthiolariidae
genus = "Struthiolaria"
species = "S. vermis"
subspecies = "S. vermis vermis"
trinomial = "Struthiolaria vermis vermis"
trinomial_authority = (Martyn, 1784)
synonyms = "Buccinum vermis" Martyn, 1784
"Struthiolaria tricarinata" Lesson, 1841
"Struthiolaria vermis" Suter, 1913

"Struthiolaria vermis vermis", known as the small ostrich foot shell (all the members of the family are known as ostrich foots), is a subspecies of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Struthiolariidae.

Distribution

This subspecies is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand.

Habitat

This large snail is found near low tide on muddy sand beaches, and off coastal beaches to about 90 m, where it is buried just below the surface.

Description

The shell is much smaller than "Struthiolaria papulosa", solid, variable in both shape and degree of angulation, but all have a deeply canaliculate suture.

Coloration is variable also, but usually light orange-brown, obscurely axially streaked in slightly darker brown. The aperture is white to greyish within, and the outer and inner lip callus is either white or orange.

The shell height is up to 54 mm, and width up to 35 mm

References

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