Natica fasciata

Natica fasciata
Several views of a shell of Natica fasciata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Littorinimorpha
Family: Naticidae
Genus: Natica
Species:
N. fasciata
Binomial name
Natica fasciata
(Röding, 1798)
Synonyms
  • Albula fasciata Röding, 1798 (original combination)
  • Natica cinnamomea Menke, 1830
  • Natica lupinus Deshayes, 1838
  • Natica solida Blainville, 1825

Natica fasciata is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Naticidae, the moon snails.

Description

The shell is moderately small, 15–25 mm in height, solid, rounded, and globose, with a short spire that is sculptured with irregular growth striae. It is light to dark brown in colour and is ornamented with a lighter band at the suture and another at the lower third of the body whorl; the whorls of the protoconch are purple.

The aperture is semi-ovate, and the parietal callus is dark chocolate-brown, shining, and covers most of the umbilicus, leaving only an anterior umbilical opening. The area adjacent to the umbilical groove is dark brown. The periostracum is light brown, thin, and opaque.

The operculum is calcareous and white, with a single marginal rib and serrations along the columellar edge. The radula has tricuspid rachidians with two accessory basal cusps, tricuspid laterals, bifid inner marginals, and simple outer marginals.

Distribution

This species is distributed across the Indo-Pacific, from the western Indian Ocean - including the Mascarene Basin and Mozambique - through the Andaman Islands and Southeast Asia, and into the Western Pacific as far as Fiji (rare) and the Marshall Islands, as well as Australia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia). It does not extend further east in the Pacific Ocean.

References

  1. 1 2 Natica fasciata (Röding, 1798). 16 June 2026. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species.
  2. ↑ Cernohorsky, W.O. (1971). "The Family Naticidae (Mollusca, Gastropoda) in the Fiji islands". Records of the Auckland Museum. 6: 179. Retrieved 15 June 2026. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is under a CC BY 4.0 license.