| Perrinia stellata | |
|---|---|
_-_Chilodontidae_-_Mollusc_shell.jpeg) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Vetigastropoda |
| Family: | Chilodontaidae |
| Genus: | Perrinia |
| Species: | P. stellata |
| Binomial name | |
| Perrinia stellata (A. Adams, 1864) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Perrinia stellata is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Chilodontaidae.
The elevated, trochiform to turriculate shell has up to eight teleoconch whorls. The whorls are flat-sided, with an angular periphery formed by a strong, star-like (stellate), keel-like spiral cord, and a distinct groove above the suture. The first teleoconch whorl is rounded and bears about 35 close-set, curved axial pliculae. From the third whorl onwards the cord above the suture develops scaly, stellate projections, which become fewer and larger with growth, numbering about 15 on the last adult whorl. The base has four well-defined spiral cords and a fifth beside the columella; the umbilicus is closed. The aperture is D-shaped and nacreous inside, and the nearly straight columella has a single weak tooth or bulge at its base in mature shells. The shell is milky white; fresh shells have a cream to dirty buff periostracal deposit, often with broad dark grey axial bands, especially in juveniles, and many are heavily encrusted with coralline algae.
The largest known shell is the holotype of Tectaria armata Issel, 1869, a synonym, at 15.5 mm. Shells from south-east Africa mature at smaller sizes than those from the north-western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea; the largest southern African specimen measures 9.6 mm. Very small specimens (2.65–6.98 mm long) have been recorded from India.
In southern Africa the species might be confused with P. konos, which is smaller, lacks strongly developed peripheral projections, has weaker basal cords and more widely spaced axial pliculae on the apical whorls.
This species occurs in the western Indian Ocean, from the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Red Sea and Suez Canal south along East Africa to the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal (Scottburgh area), South Africa. A record from Zambales, Philippines, requires confirmation. In South African waters it has been found at depths of 14–60 m, living specimens at 18–50 m; it probably also occurs in shallower water in tropical areas.
The original type locality, "China Seas", was considered vague and probably inaccurate by Herbert, who emended it to the Gulf of Suez. The holotype of Turcica stellata is held in the Natural History Museum, London (NHMUK 1968214).