Fissurella verna

Fissurella verna
Top view of the shell of Fissurella verna (museum specimens at Naturalis Biodiversity Center)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Vetigastropoda
Order: Lepetellida
Family: Fissurellidae
Genus: Fissurella
Species:
F. verna
Binomial name
Fissurella verna
Gould, 1846

Fissurella verna is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets.[1]

Description

The shell varies in size from 20 to 51 millimetres (0.79 to 2.01 in) in length. It is solid, oval, and symmetrical with a depressed-conical profile. The exterior surface is striated and bears about 20–30 low radiating ribs separated by interspaces of roughly equal width.[2]

The coloration is described as grey-green with dark purplish radial markings. The apex is purplish, and the interior is pale with a slightly greenish or garlic-colored tint. The apical opening (foramen) is small and oval. The shell margin is faintly crenulated and radially striated.[2]

Gould reported shell dimensions of approximately 35 millimetres (1.4 in) in length, 31 millimetres (1.2 in) in width and 13 millimetres (0.51 in) in height.[2]

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Atlantic Ocean around the Cape Verde archipelago. The type locality was given as Porto Praia on Santiago Island.[2]

The species is considered part of the endemic fissurellid fauna of the islands.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Fissurella verna Gould, 1846. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 17 December 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Gould, A. A. (1846). Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History. Freeman and Bolles. p. 156.
  • Rolán E., 2005. Malacological Fauna From The Cape Verde Archipelago. Part 1, Polyplacophora and Gastropoda.