Ancilla albozonata

Ancilla albozonata
Shell of Ancilla albozonata (specimen at the Natural History Museum, Rotterdam)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Ancillariidae
Genus:	Ancilla
Species:	A. albozonata
Binomial name
Ancilla albozonata E.A. Smith, 1904 [1]
Synonyms
Ancilla (Sparella) albozonataE. A. Smith, 1904 alternative representation Ancilla ordinaria var. majorW. H. Turton, 1932 (junior synonym) Sparella albozonata(E. A. Smith, 1904)

Ancilla albozonata is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ancillariidae. ^[2]

Description

The length of the shell attains 20 mm, its diameter 10 mm.

(Original description in Latin) The shell is oblong and acuminated above. It is brown, white at the apex, and zoned with white below the suture, below the middle of the body whorl, and around the base. The spire is convexly acuminated and covered with a thin callus. The aperture is elongated, equaling about 1/4 of the total length, brown inside, and white anteriorly below the columella. The outer lip is thin, slightly arcuate, white above at its insertion, and stained with white anteriorly at the extremity of the external zone. The columella is almost reflexed anteriorly, obliquely sulcate, and brownish.

The coloration of this species is both characteristic and constant. The apex of the spire is white, and a white band encircles the upper part, or shoulder, of the body-whorl. A narrower white zone accompanies the upper of the two oblique grooves that cross the lower part of the whorl, and the base is also white. The surface is smooth, exhibiting only faint growth lines. ^[3]

Distribution

This marine species occurs off Port Alfred, South Africa.

References

1. Smith, E.A. (1904b) On a collection of marine shells from Port Alfred, Cape Colony. Journal of Malacology 11, 21–44, pls. 2–3.. World Register of Marine Species, Retrieved 28 April 2010.
2. Ancilla albozonata E.A. Smith, 1904 . Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species  on 28 April 2010.
3. Smith, E.A. (1904). "On a collection of marine shells from Port Alfred, Cape Colony". Journal of Malacology. 11 (2): 29. Retrieved 6 August 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

• Turton, W. H. (1932). The marine shells of Port Alfred S. Africa. Humphrey Milford, London. pp. i-xvi, 1-331, pls 1-70
• Kilburn, R.N. & Rippey, E. (1982) Sea Shells of Southern Africa. Macmillan South Africa, Johannesburg, xi + 249 pp.
• Steyn, D.G. & Lussi, M. (1998) Marine Shells of South Africa. An Illustrated Collector's Guide to Beached Shells. Ekogilde Publishers, Hartebeespoort, South Africa, ii + 264 pp.