Polystira albida, common name white giant turris, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Turridae, the turrids.[1]

Polystira albida
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Conoidea
Family: Turridae
Genus: Polystira
Species:
P. albida
Binomial name
Polystira albida
(G. Perry, 1811)
Synonyms[1]
  • Pleurotoma albida Perry G., 1811 (original combination) (type lost)
  • Pleurotoma virgo Lamarck, 1816
  • Turris albida virgo J.B.P.A. Lamarck, 1822
  • Turris nivea Reeve, L.A., 1843

Distribution

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P. albida can be found in Western Atlantic waters, ranging from the eastern coast of Florida south to Brazil.[2][3][4][5]

Description

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A shell of Polystira albida

Shells of Polystira albida can reach a size of 44–127 millimetres (1.7–5.0 in).[3][4] These large shells are slender, fusiform, with a narrow and long aperture and a white external surface.

Habitat

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These tropical benthic gastropods live at depths of 15 to 229 m.[4][6]

Life cycle

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Embryos develop into free-swimming planktonic marine larvae (trochophore) and later into juvenile veligers.[6]

Bibliography

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  • John Tucker – Catalog of Recent & Fossil Turrids
  • Lamarck, J. B. 1816. Tableau Encyclopédique et Méthodique des Trois Règnes de la Nature – Veuve Agasse: Paris.
  • Norman A. Meinkoth – Audubon – Field Guide to North American Shells
  • Perry, G. 1811. – Conchology – William Miller: London.
  • Petuch, E. J. 1987. New Caribbean molluscan faunas – Coastal Education & Research Foundation: Charlottesville, Virginia.
  • Reeve, L. 1843. Monograph of the genus Pleurotoma Conchologia Iconica
  • Todd J.A. & Rawlings T.A. (2014). A review of the Polystira clade — the Neotropic's largest marine gastropod radiation (Neogastropoda: Conoidea: Turridae sensu stricto). Zootaxa. 3884(5): 445–491.,
  • Turgeon, D. D., J. F. Quinn Jr., A. E. Bogan, E. V. Coan, F. G. Hochberg, W. G. Lyons, et al. (1998) – Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: Mollusks, 2nd ed. – American Fisheries Society Special Publication

References

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  1. ^ a b Polystira albida (G. Perry, 1811). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 5 April 2010.
  2. ^ Tunnell, John W., Jr., Felder, Darryl L., & Earle, Sylvia A., eds. Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota, Volume 1: Biodiversity. Texas A&M University Press, 2009. 669.
  3. ^ a b "Polystira albida albida". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b c A Database of Western Atlantic Marine Mollusca – The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
  5. ^ Discover Life
  6. ^ a b Sealife Base
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