Volema pyrum is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Melongenidae, the crown conches and their allies.[1]

Volema pyrum
Volema pyrum shell
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Melongenidae
Genus: Volema
Species:
V. pyrum
Binomial name
Volema pyrum
(Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms
  • Buccinum pyrum Gmelin, 1791
  • Buccinum spadiceum Gmelin, 1791
  • Galeodes paradisaica (Röding, 1798) (misspelling)
  • Galeodes paradisiaca (Röding, 1798)
  • Melongena paradisaica (Röding, 1798) (misspelling)
  • Melongena paradisiaca (Röding, 1798)
  • Melongena pirum Dautzenberg, 1929
  • Murex calcaratus Dillwyn, 1817
  • Pugilina laevis Schumacher, 1817
  • Pyrula calcaratus Hanley, 1856
  • Pyrula citrina Lamarck, 1822
  • Volema cotonea Röding, 1798
  • Volema nuxmoschata Röding, 1798
  • Volema paradisiaca Röding, 1798
  • Volema pyrum Röding, 1798
  • Volema pyrum nodosa (Lamarck, 1822)

Nomenclature edit

Abbott & Dance (1986: 176) treated Gmelin's name as preoccupied by Linnaeus, but Gmelin named his species as a Buccinum, not a Murex.[1]

Description edit

The size of the adult shell varies between 40 mm and 52 mm. The shell is cream-colored (with top of the spire being darker) and somewhat pear-shaped, and is mostly smooth with faint ridges on the lower half of the body whorl. The shell of Volema paradisiaca lacks any knobs or spines.

Distribution edit

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania; in the Singapore Strait.

References edit

  1. ^ a b Volema pyrum (Gmelin). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 12 April 2010.
  • Spry, J.F. (1961). The sea shells of Dar es Salaam: Gastropods. Tanganyika Notes and Records 56
  • Richmond, M. (Ed.) (1997). A guide to the seashores of Eastern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean islands. Sida/Department for Research Cooperation, SAREC: Stockholm, Sweden. ISBN 91-630-4594-X. 448 pp.
  • Marais J.P. & Kilburn R.N. (2010) Melongenidae. pp. 174–175, in: Marais A.P. & Seccombe A.D. (eds), Identification guide to the seashells of South Africa. Volume 1. Groenkloof: Centre for Molluscan Studies. 376 pp.

External links edit