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0037-1.jpg (64381 bytes)

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Proterato angistoma (Sowerby, 1832)

Description: Shell solid, glossy. Aperture narrow, curved. Outer lip folded in, posterior extremity produced beyond posterior canal; denticulate along entire length, with 25-30 denticles. Inner lip of aperture denticulate on lower third. Colour white or cream, sometimes with an indistinct fawn band below the suture.

Size: Up to 5 mm in length.

Distribution: Central Indo-West Pacific; in Australia, as far south as Sydney, NSW.

Habitat: Known from empty shells sorted from shell sand, from intertidal down to 50 m depth.

Synonym: Iredale introduced the name Lachryma bisinventa Iredale, 1931 for shells from Sydney, on the basis that "comparison with the Torres Strait shells determined as angistoma shows the local shell to be more elegantly formed". Being more elegant is now not considered to be sufficient for species separation..

Figs. 1,2: Sydney Harbour, NSW, Triton dredge (C.360656)

 


Copyright Des Beechey 2000