Lunella smaragdus
Lunella smaragdus | |
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A shell of an adult Lunella smaragdus | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Mollusca |
Class: | Gastropoda |
(unranked): | clade Vetigastropoda |
Superfamily: | Trochoidea |
Family: | Turbinidae |
Subfamily: | Turbininae |
Genus: | Lunella |
Species: | L. smaragdus |
Binomial name | |
Lunella smaragdus (Gmelin, 1791) | |
Synonyms | |
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Lunella smaragdus, common name the emerald moon turban, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turbinidae, the turban snails.[1]
There has been little published on this species.
Description
This species has a green operculum. The maximum shell diameter is 20 mm.
The common name "cat's eye" for the synonym Turbo smaragdus is a reference to the attractively colored operculum of this species, which looks somewhat like an eye, and which is sometimes used for decorative purposes.
Distribution
Lunella smaragdus is an endemic species found both at the intertidal and low subtidal rocky shores and soft substrates (including seaweeds) of New Zealand. [2][3] It is found around the North, South, and Stewart islands, on rocks between low and mid tide.
References
- ↑ Lunella smaragdus (Gmelin, 1791). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 20 April 2010.
- ↑ Powell A W B, New Zealand Mollusca, William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-00-216906-1
- ↑ Glen Pownall, New Zealand Shells and Shellfish, Seven Seas Publishing Pty Ltd, Wellington, New Zealand 1979 ISBN 0-85467-054-8
- Powell, A.W.B. (1979). New Zealand mollusca. Marine, land and freshwater shells. Collins Auckland.
- Alf A. & Kreipl K. (2003). A Conchological Iconography: The Family Turbinidae, Subfamily Turbininae, Genus Turbo. Conchbooks, Hackenheim Germany.
External links
- The Taiwan malacofauna database : Lunella smaragdus
- NABIS : Annual Distribution of the cat's eye
- image of aperture and operculum of a living specimen and more information
- Image from collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
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15 mm juvenile shell of L. smaragdus, markedly different in sculpture than the adult form
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15 mm juvenile shell of L. smaragdus, underside