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Belloliva exquisita (Angas, 1871) Description: Shell tall, slightly inflated, glossy, whorls rounded, sutures deeply channeled, aperture one-half of total shell length. Outer lip of aperture smooth inside and outside. Posterior canal deep, forming the channeled suture. Anterior canal short and wide. Columella smooth, concave, with a broad weakly ridged plait at the bottom. Anterior fasciole thinly calloused, not obscuring underlying pattern; fasciole callus edged by a weak ridge commencing adjacent to centre of aperture. Protoconch and early spire whorls white. Body whorl with three spiral bands of brown dashes – at suture, midbody and base – and thin, wavy, axial brown lines. Operculum horny, filling the entire aperture. Size: Up to 8 mm in length Distribution: Endemic to Australia; Newcastle to Bermagui, NSW. Habitat: Known mainly from empty beach shells. Lives subtidally, not collected live intertidally. Uncommon. Comparison: The three species found in NSW can usually be separated by their distinctive colour patterns. B. exquisita is the smallest of the three, and more inflated than the other two species. Figs. 1,2: Kurnell, Botany Bay, NSW (C.331403) |
