Pyrene obtusa is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Columbellidae, the dove snails.[1]

Pyrene obtusa
Three shells of Pyrene obtusa (museum specimens at Naturalis Biodiversity Center)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Columbellidae
Genus: Pyrene
Species:
P. obtusa
Binomial name
Pyrene obtusa
Synonyms[1]
  • Buccinum lacteum Kiener, 1834
  • Colombella uvania Duclos, P.L. 1840
  • Columbella funiculata Souverbie, M. & Montrouzier, R.P. 1865
  • Columbella obtusa G.B. Sowerby I, 1832 (basionym)
  • Columbella tringa var. tankervillei Hervier, 1899
  • Columbella zelina Duclos, 1835
  • Columbella zelina var. cylindra Hervier, 1899
  • Pyrene lactea (Kiener, 1834)
  • Pyrene obtusa curta Schmeltz, J.D.K. 1874.
  • Pyrene tankervillei (Hervier, 1899)

Description edit

The shell size varies between 11 mm and 18 mm

The small shell is pretty thin, ovate, conical and smooth. It is of a diaphanous white. The sutures are indistinctly apparent. The spire is composed of six convex whorls, ornamented at their base with spots of a duller white. The body whorl is as large as all the others, striated at base, and surrounded, towards the middle, with small, distant spots, articulated by a reddish line. The aperture is ovate. The outer lip denticulated within, and thickened outwardly, even to the base of the shell.[2]

Distribution edit

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off East Africa and Mauritius and Réunion and in the Indo-West Pacific; off Australia (Queensland)

References edit

  • Sowerby, G.B. (1st) 1832. Descriptions of new species of shells collected by Mr. Cuming. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1832(2): 113–120
  • Duclos, P.L. 1840. Histoire naturelle generale et particuliere de tous genres de coquilles univalves marines a l'état vivant et fossile publiee par monographie. Genre Columbelle. Paris : Didot.
  • Souverbie, M. & Montrouzier, R.P. 1865. Descriptions d'espèces nouvelles de l'Archipel Calédonien. Journal de Conchyliologie 13: 150–159, pl. 5
  • Schmeltz, J.D.K. 1874. Museum Godeffroy Catalog 5. Hamburg : L. Friederichsen & Co. 215 pp.
  • Drivas, J. & Jay, M. 1990. The Columbellidae of Réunion Island (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Annals of the Natal Museum 31: 163–200
  • Michel, C. (1988). Marine molluscs of Mauritius. Editions de l'Ocean Indien. Stanley, Rose Hill. Mauritius
  • Wilson, B. 1994. Australian Marine Shells. Prosobranch Gastropods. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp.
  • Kilburn R.N. & Marais J.P. (2010) Columbellidae. Pp. 60-104, 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

  • "Pyrene obtusa obtusa". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 29 January 2011.