Volema pyrum

Volema pyrum
Volema pyrum shell
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Melongenidae
Genus:	Volema
Species:	V. pyrum
Binomial name
Volema pyrum (Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms
Buccinum pyrum Gmelin, 1791 Buccinum spadiceum Gmelin, 1791 Galeodes paradisaica (Röding, 1798) (misspelling) Galeodes paradisiaca (Röding, 1798) Melongena paradisaica (Röding, 1798) (misspelling) Melongena paradisiaca (Röding, 1798) Melongena pirum Dautzenberg, 1929 Murex calcaratus Dillwyn, 1817 Pugilina laevis Schumacher, 1817 Pyrula calcaratus Hanley, 1856 Pyrula citrina Lamarck, 1822 Volema cotonea Röding, 1798 Volema nuxmoschata Röding, 1798 Volema paradisiaca Röding, 1798 Volema pyrum Röding, 1798 Volema pyrum nodosa (Lamarck, 1822)

Volema pyrum is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Melongenidae, the crown conches and their allies.

Nomenclature

Abbott & Dance (1986: 176) treated Gmelin's name as preoccupied by Linnaeus, but Gmelin named his species as a Buccinum, not a Murex.

Description

The size of the adult shell varies between 40 mm and 52 mm. The shell is cream-colored (with top of the spire being darker) and somewhat pear-shaped, and is mostly smooth with faint ridges on the lower half of the body whorl. The shell of Volema paradisiaca lacks any knobs or spines.

Distribution

This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania; in the Singapore Strait.

References

• Spry, J.F. (1961). The sea shells of Dar es Salaam: Gastropods. Tanganyika Notes and Records 56
• Richmond, M. (Ed.) (1997). A guide to the seashores of Eastern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean islands. Sida/Department for Research Cooperation, SAREC: Stockholm, Sweden. ISBN 91-630-4594-X. 448 pp.
• Marais J.P. & Kilburn R.N. (2010) Melongenidae. pp. 174–175, in: Marais A.P. & Seccombe A.D. (eds), Identification guide to the seashells of South Africa. Volume 1. Groenkloof: Centre for Molluscan Studies. 376 pp.

External links

• "Volema paradisiaca". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
• Gmelin, J. F. (1791). Vermes. In: Gmelin J.F. (Ed.) Caroli a Linnaei Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Ed. 13. Tome 1(6). G.E. Beer, Lipsiae
• Röding, P. F. (1798). Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturæ quæ olim collegerat Joa. Fried Bolten, M. D. p. d. per XL. annos proto physicus Hamburgensis. Pars secunda continens Conchylia sive Testacea univalvia, bivalvia & multivalvia. Trapp, Hamburg, viii + 199 pp.
• Schumacher, C. F. (1817). Essai d'un nouveau système des habitations des vers testacés. Schultz, Copenghagen. iv + 288 pp., 22 pls
• Lamarck, (J.-B. M.) de. (1822). Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres. Tome septième. Paris: published by the Author, 711 pp
• Dillwyn, L. W. (1817). A descriptive catalogue of Recent shells, arranged according to the Linnean method; with particular attention to the synonymy. John and Arthur Arch, London, Vol. 1: 1-580 pp.; Vol. 2: 581-1092 pp. + index