(Brocchi, 1814)
Description (shell):
Shell solid, pyramidal, with seven to eight straight-sided whorls, with a slight peripheral keel. Sculpture of prosocline growth lines and spiral grooves and ridges, producing lozenge-shaped dimples. With or without narrow V-shaped umbilicus (C. miliaris-drawing).
Size:
Up to 18 x 18 mm but commonly 12 x 12 mm.
Colour:
White, greenish or pinkish, often with pink or brown spots.
Animal:
Snout without papillae, mouth I-shaped when closed; cephalic tentacles long, slender, with fine sensory papillae. Foot with papillate sides; three pairs of papillate epipodial tentacles, with basal sense-organs. Operculum pale yellow, polygyrous, with 11-13 turns.
Habitat:
Sublittoral only, 35-800 m, not uncommon on stone or gravel bottoms, less common on sand or muddy sand.
Distribution:
Distributed from Mediterranean north to Norway. More common in north of range, absent from eastern basin of English Channel (Distr. C. miliaris). |
