The zebra top snail, scientific name Austrocochlea porcata, is a medium-sized sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Trochidae, the top snails, also known as top shells.[1]
| Austrocochlea porcata | |
|---|---|
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| Shell of Austrocochlea porcata (syntype at MNHN, Paris) | |
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| Wide striped variant | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Vetigastropoda |
| Order: | Trochida |
| Superfamily: | Trochoidea |
| Family: | Trochidae |
| Genus: | Austrocochlea |
| Species: | A. porcata |
| Binomial name | |
| Austrocochlea porcata (A. Adams, 1853) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Shell description
editThe size of the shell varies between 20 mm and 43 mm.
(Original description in Latin) The shell is ovate-conical and without an umbilicus, dark brown in color and marked with a white net-like pattern. Its whorls are convex and crossed by numerous elevated transverse keels that stand apart from one another. The inner lip is white and somewhat calloused below, while the outer lip is grooved on the inside. [2]
The shell has a black-and-white banded pattern overlying a light grey to white shell. It is very similar to that of the southern ribbed top snail, Austrocochlea constricta, and until recently the two species were considered to be identical. The aperture is less dilated, than in Austrocochlea constricta. The columellar tubercle is obsolete.[3][page needed]
Distribution
editThis marine species is endemic to Australia and occurs off Central Queensland to Western Australia and also off Tasmania.
References
edit- ↑ Bouchet P (2013). Bieler R, Bouchet P, Gofas S, Marshall B, Rosenberg G, La Perna R, Neubauer TA, Sartori AF, Schneider S, Vos C, ter Poorten JJ, Taylor J, Dijkstra H, Finn J, Bank R, Neubert E, Moretzsohn F, Faber M, Houart R, Picton B, Garcia-Alvarez O (eds.). "Austrocochlea porcata (A. Adams, 1853)". MolluscaBase. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 2014-03-16.
- ↑ Adams, A. (1853). "Contributions towards a monograph of the Trochidae, a family of gasteropodous Mollusca". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1851 (19): 179. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. - ↑ Tryon, George W. (1889). Manual of Conchology. Vol. XI. Philadelphia: Academy of Natural Sciences.
- Grove, S. (2011). The Seashells of Tasmania: A Comprehensive Guide. Taroona, Australia: Taroona Publications. pp. [vi], 81.
External links
edit- Dumont d'Urville, Jules-Sébastien-César (1830). Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe : exécuté par ordre du roi, pendant les années 1826-1827-1828-1829 / sous le commandement de J. Dumont d'Urville (in French). Paris: J. Tastu. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.2132.[page needed]
- Adams, A. (1853). "Contributions towards a monograph of the Trochidae, a family of gasteropodous Mollusca". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1851: 179. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
- Parsons, Ke; Ward, Rd (1994-08-01). "Electrophoretic and morphological examination of Austrocochlea constricta (Gastropoda: Trochidae): A species complex". Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. 45 (6): 1065–1085. doi:10.1071/MF9941065. ISSN 0067-1940.
- Donald, Kirsten M.; Kennedy, Martyn; Spencer, Hamish G. (2005). "The phylogeny and taxonomy of austral monodontine topshells (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Trochidae), inferred from DNA sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 37 (2). Elsevier BV: 474–483. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.04.011. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 15936215.
- "Zebra Top Shell". Life on Australian Seashores.
- "Austrocochlea porcata". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
