Volema pyrum is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Melongenidae, the crown conches and their allies.[1]

Volema pyrum
Volema pyrum shell
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Melongenidae
Genus: Volema
Species:
V. pyrum
Binomial name
Volema pyrum
(Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms
  • Buccinum pyrum Gmelin, 1791
  • Buccinum spadiceum Gmelin, 1791
  • Galeodes paradisaica (Röding, 1798) (misspelling)
  • Galeodes paradisiaca (Röding, 1798)
  • Melongena paradisaica (Röding, 1798) (misspelling)
  • Melongena paradisiaca (Röding, 1798)
  • Melongena pirum Dautzenberg, 1929
  • Murex calcaratus Dillwyn, 1817
  • Pugilina laevis Schumacher, 1817
  • Pyrula calcaratus Hanley, 1856
  • Pyrula citrina Lamarck, 1822
  • Volema cotonea Röding, 1798
  • Volema nuxmoschata Röding, 1798
  • Volema paradisiaca Röding, 1798
  • Volema pyrum Röding, 1798
  • Volema pyrum nodosa (Lamarck, 1822)

Nomenclature

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Abbott & Dance (1986: 176) treated Gmelin's name as preoccupied by Linnaeus, but Gmelin named his species as a Buccinum, not a Murex.[1]

Description

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The size of the adult shell varies between 40 mm and 52 mm. The shell is cream-colored (with top of the spire being darker) and somewhat pear-shaped, and is mostly smooth with faint ridges on the lower half of the body whorl. The shell of Volema paradisiaca lacks any knobs or spines.

Distribution

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This species occurs in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar, Mozambique and Tanzania; in the Singapore Strait.

References

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  1. ^ a b Volema pyrum (Gmelin). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 12 April 2010.
  • Spry, J.F. (1961). The sea shells of Dar es Salaam: Gastropods. Tanganyika Notes and Records 56
  • Richmond, M. (Ed.) (1997). A guide to the seashores of Eastern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean islands. Sida/Department for Research Cooperation, SAREC: Stockholm, Sweden. ISBN 91-630-4594-X. 448 pp.
  • Marais J.P. & Kilburn R.N. (2010) Melongenidae. pp. 174–175, in: Marais A.P. & Seccombe A.D. (eds), Identification guide to the seashells of South Africa. Volume 1. Groenkloof: Centre for Molluscan Studies. 376 pp.
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