Alaba picta is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Litiopidae.[1]
| Alaba picta | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Family: | Litiopidae |
| Genus: | Alaba |
| Species: | A. picta
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| Binomial name | |
| Alaba picta (A. Adams, 1861)
| |
| |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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Description
editThe length of the shell attains 4.8 mm.
(Original description in Latin) The shell is ovate-conical, semi-opaque, and solid, featuring 6 barely convex whorls and a purple apex. The white surface is neatly painted with three transverse and longitudinal rufescent stripes on each whorl, with the base adorned with concentric red stripes. The aperture is oblong and slightly angular anteriorly, with a straight outer lip and a thickened inner lip.
The animal is semipellucid white, delicately reticulated with red-brown lines. The tentacles are filiform and obtuse at the tips, ringed with red-brown and flecked with opaque white. The right tentacle is significantly longer than the left. The eyes are situated on flattened lobes at the outer bases of the tentacles. The foot is narrow, auriculate on each side in front, with the auricles being linear and recurved. The lobe of the operculum is equipped with four long tentacular filaments: the anterior two are extended to each side when the animal is crawling or swimming, while the posterior two diverge slightly and are directed backward.
When the animal is in motion, its head is concealed by the shell, but its eyes remain visible through the transparent edge. The creature rapidly spins a pellucid thread from a viscous secretion emitted by a gland near the tip of its tail. It swims at the surface of the water with the shell facing downwards. When fatigued, it suspends itself with the apex pointing downwards, using the glutinous thread attached to the surface of the water. [2]
Distribution
editThis marine species occurs off China, Korea, Japan and New Caledonia. [1]
References
edit- ^ a b c Alaba picta (A. Adams, 1861). 2024-07-06. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species.
- ^ Adams, A. (1861). "On some new genera and species of Mollusca from the north of China and Japan". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 3 (8): 299–309. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Bartsch, P. (1929). "Report upon the collection of marine mollusks made by Professor Dr. K. Derjugin in the Gulf of Peter the Great". Issledovaniya morei SSSR. 10: 131–140.
- Hasegawa, K. (2017). Family Litiopidae - Marine Mollusks in Japan (2 ed.). Tokai University Press. p. 794.
External links
edit- Adams, A. (1862). "On the animal and affinities of the genus Alaba, with a review of the known species, and descriptions of some new species". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 3 (10 (58)): 293–299. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- Adams, A. (1861). "On some new genera and species of Mollusca from the North of China and Japan". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 3 (8): 239–246. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- Alaba, picta. "WMSDB". Conchology, Inc. Retrieved 9 July 2024.: image