Leiopyrga
lineolaris
(Gould, 1861)
Description:
Whorls smooth and shining, rounded (Fig. 1), or sharply angled with a
smooth keel at bottom quarter (Fig. 2). Body whorl microscopically spirally striate below the
periphery. Columella smooth, outer lip thin and smooth. Umbilicus almost
but not completely closed by columellar callus. Colour white, with
reddish-brown axial wavy lines or zigzags of variable width and spacing.
Size:
Up to 12 mm high.
Distribution:
Endemic to Australia; Yamba, NSW, southwards to Gabo Is, Victoria.
Habitat: Shallow
subtidal, down to about 40 m. Common in beach washup.
Comparison:
Distinguished from Bankivia fasciata by the rounded or angled
whorls and the partly open umbilicus. The reddish-brown colour pattern
is fairly constant, in contrast to the variable colours of B.
fasciata. Specimens that are angled and keeled at bottom of
whorls may resemble L. cingulata, but the latter species always
has a keel at the top of the whorls as well as at the bottom.
Fig.
1: Palm Beach, NSW (C.350505)
Fig.
2: Green Point, Angourie, NSW (DLB5255)
Update history: Fig. 1 replaced May 2008. Fig. 2 replaced August
2009
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