Cominella adspersa

Cominella adspersa, the speckled whelk or kawari in Maori, is a predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Buccinidae, the true whelks.[1][2]

Cominella adspersa
Shell of Cominella adspersa (holotype at MNHN, Paris)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Buccinoidea
Family: Buccinidae
Genus: Cominella
Species:
C. adspersa
Binomial name
Cominella adspersa
(Bruguière, 1789)
Synonyms
  • Acominia adspersa (Bruguiere, 1789)
  • Acominia adspersa nimia Finlay, 1928 (synonym)
  • Buccinum adspersum Bruguière, 1789 (basionym)
  • Buccinum maculatum Martyn, 1784 (Martyn, 1784 is a work rejected for nomenclatorial purposes (see ICZN opinions 456 and 479))
  • Buccinum melo Lesson, 1840 (synonym)
  • Buccinum quoyii Kiener, 1834
  • Cominella (Cominella) adspersa (Bruguière, 1789) · accepted, alternate representation
  • Cominella maculata (Gray, 1835)
  • Cominella maculata melo (Lesson, 1840)
  • Purpura maculata Gray, 1835

Description

The length of the shell varies between 25 mm and 75 mm.[3][4]

The oblong-ovate shell is of a red brown color. It is furrowed throughout its whole extent by regular transverse striae, numerous, pretty near, interwoven by other very fine longitudinal striae. The pointed spire is composed of seven whorls. Each whorl, except the lowest, is adorned with longitudinal tubercles or ribs. The columella projectis a little above an incipient umbilicus, which penetrates it at the base of the emargination. The ovular aperture is provided with a callosity upon the left lip, which is of a beautiful reddish color. The pouter lip is arched, plaited upon the internal edge as often as there are striae externally.[5]


  • Views of a shell
  • Apertural view
  • Dorsal view

Distribution

Cominella adspersa is endemic to New Zealand and is found along the coast of North Island, northern South Island, and the Chatham Islands.[3][4]

References
  1. Fraussen, K. (2015). Cominella adspersa (Bruguière, 1789). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=490921 on 2016-05-02
  2. Donald, Kirsten M.; Winter, David J.; Ashcroft, Anna L.; Spencer, Hamish G. (2015). "Phylogeography of the whelk genus Cominella (Gastropoda: Buccinidae) suggests long-distance counter-current dispersal of a direct developer". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 115: 315–332. doi:10.1111/bij.12529.
  3. Powell A. W. B., New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
  4. Willan, R.C., de C. Cook, S., Spencer, H.G., Creese, R.G., O’Shea, S., Jackson, G.D. Phylum Mollusca. In: de C. Cook, S.C. (eds.), New Zealand Coastal Marine Invertebrates 1, 401 – 405. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch, New Zealand ISBN 978-1877257-60-5
  5. Kiener (1840). General species and iconography of recent shells : comprising the Massena Museum, the collection of Lamarck, the collection of the Museum of Natural History, and the recent discoveries of travellers; Boston :W.D. Ticknor,1837 (described as Buccinum quoyii)
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