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Ancillista velesiana Iredale, 1936

Description: Shell lightweight, with rounded whorls and an inflated body whorl. Sculptured with very fine, irregular spiral lines crossed by fine axial growth striae.  Outer lip thin, simple.  Early spire whorls white; later whorls with a white band below the suture and remainder of whorl with a brown glaze, which extends to just in front of the aperture; body whorl with a wide, white glazed band below suture.  Delimiting fasciolar groove at bottom quarter of body whorl, with  fasciolar band below; this band in two parts with a central dividing ridge, the upper part dark brown and the lower usually lighter brown or fawn.  Columella white, smooth.

Size: Up to 98 mm.

Distribution: Endemic to Australia ; central Queensland to Sydney, NSW.  Common.

Habitat: Trawled in 18-70 metres.

Comparison: Similar to Ancillista cingulata (Sowerby, 1830), which occurs in western and northern Australia , at least as far east as Torres Strait .  A. velesiana differs from  A. cingulata in two characters. There is a brown glaze on the spire, absent in A. cingulata, and the brown coloration on the anterior of the body whorl  is restricted to below the delimiting fasciolar groove, but extends above it in A. cingulata.