Diodora ruppellii

Diodora ruppellii
Diodora rueppellii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Vetigastropoda
Superfamily: Fissurelloidea
Family: Fissurellidae
Subfamily: Emarginullinae
Tribe: Diodorini
Genus: Diodora
Species: D. ruppellii
Binomial name
Diodora ruppellii
(G.B. Sowerby I, 1835)
Synonyms[1]
  • Fissurella nigriadiata Reeve, 1850
  • Fissurella reticulata Liénard, 1877
Diodora ruepellii, underside

Diodora rueppellii, common name the Rüppell's keyhole limpet, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Fissurellidae, the keyhole limpets.

Description

Diodora ruppellii has a shell with a whitish exterior marked with a radial pattern of dark blotches and a white interior surface marked with a faint pattern similar yo the exterior. The shell is asteeply conical, elongated ovalwith a hoel at the apex, which is roughly a third of the length of the shell from its anterior end. There are 20-25 radiating ribs on the exterior surfaceof the shell with some smaller ribs between them; the growth ridges are not as developed as the ribs and form knobs at where they intersect. The edges of the apical hole have conspicuous crenulations where they meet the ribs, the notches between the crenulations continue a short distance towards the inside of the shell. The shell can be up to 20 mm long, although 15mm is the most common length, and 10 mm high, in Red Sea specimens.[2]

Distribution

Diodora ruppellii has an Indo-Pacific distribution occurring in the Red Sea and along the east African coasts as far south as KwaZulu-Natal abd east through the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean to Hawaii.[3] It was recorded in the Suez Canal in 1905[3] and reaching the Mediterraean in 1948 when it was recorded off the coast of Israel and had spread to south-eastern Turkey by 1995.[2]

Ecology

Species in the genus Diodora feed on sponges from the undersides of rocks and boulders. Diodora ruppellii is normally found in the intertidal zone on rocky shores but has been dredged up from gravel substrates.[2]

References

  1. S. Gofas; P. Bouchet (2014). "Diodora ruppellii (G. B. Sowerby I, 1835) ". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 A. Zenetos; S. Gofas; G. Russo; J. Templado (eds.). "Diodora ruppellii". CIESM Atlas of Exotic Species in the Mediterranean: Vol. 3 – Molluscs. CIESM The Mediterranean Science Commission. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Diodora ruppellii (Sowerby, 1835)". Iscadoro.net. Retrieved 18 March 2017.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.