Natica marochiensis is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Naticidae, the moon snails.

Distribution

This marine species has a wide distribution. It can be found at the following locations:

  • Mediterranean Sea
  • Atlantic Ocean : Cape Verde, West Africa, Angola
  • Caribbean Sea
  • Gulf of Mexico
  • Lesser Antilles
  • Indian Ocean : Mozambique

Description

The maximum recorded shell length is 40 mm.

(Described as Natica lemniscata) The shell is subglobose and thin, possessing a tawny color. It is decorated with three narrow white zones and marked by longitudinal, flexuous red lines, while arched chestnut lines further ornament the zones. A broad white band encircles the umbilicus and is adorned at its margin with chestnut, arrow-shaped spots.

The whorls are rounded and feature radial grooves at the suture. The spire is short, and the aperture is semiorbicular, being produced into an angle at the base. A large callus fills the greater part of the umbilicus and is encircled on the exterior by a superficial groove.

Habitat

Minimum recorded depth is 0 m. Maximum recorded depth is 94 m.

  • Gofas, S.; Afonso, J.P.; Brandào, M. (Ed.). (S.a.). Conchas e Moluscos de Angola = Coquillages et Mollusques d'Angola. [Shells and molluscs of Angola]. Universidade Agostinho / Elf Aquitaine Angola: Angola. 140 pp.
  • Rolán E., 2005. Malacological Fauna From The Cape Verde Archipelago. Part 1, Polyplacophora and Gastropoda.
  • Spencer, H.G., Marshall, B.A. & Willan, R.C. (2009). Checklist of New Zealand living Mollusca. pp 196–219 in Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.
  • Rosenberg, G., F. Moretzsohn, and E. F. García. 2009. Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 579–699 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas.
  • Torigoe K. & Inaba A. (2011) Revision on the classification of Recent Naticidae. Bulletin of the Nishinomiya Shell Museum 7: 133 + 15 pp., 4 pls.

External links