Architectonica nobilis

Architectonica nobilis
Shell of Architectonica nobilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Family:	Architectonicidae
Genus:	Architectonica
Species:	A. nobilis
Binomial name
Architectonica nobilis Röding, 1798
Synonyms
Architectonica granulata(Lamarck, 1816) junior subjective synonym † Architectonica sexlinearis(E. T. Nelson, 1870) junior subjective synonym Architectonica valenciennesiiMörch, 1859 junior subjective synonym Architectonica wroblewskyiMörch, 1875 Solarium granosumValenciennes, 1832 junior subjective synonym Solarium granulatumLamarck, 1816 Solarium ordinariumE. A. Smith, 1890 Solarium quadricepsHinds, 1844 junior subjective synonym † Solarium sexlineareE. T. Nelson, 1870 junior subjective synonym Solarium verrucosumR. A. Philippi, 1849 junior subjective synonym

Architectonica nobilis, common name the American sundial, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Architectonicidae, which are known as the staircase shells or sundials. ^[1]

The subspecies Architectonica nobilis karsteniRutsch, 1934: is a synonym of Architectonica karsteni Rutsch, 1934 (original rank).

Description

The shell exhibits a whitish-yellow ground color. A series of red-brown spots marks the area immediately below the suture. The color pattern is completed by paler spots distributed across both the spiral cords and the interspaces, both above and below the base.

(Original description of Solarium quadriceps in Latin) The shell is orbicular-discoidal. The numerous flattened whorls are girdled in four rows with various width. The cords are furnished with quadrate, flattened, and approximate tubercles. The lower cord is larger and is painted red along with the upper one. The shell is swollen at the base, and the median area is radiately folded. The umbilicus is wide-open and is encircled by large brown crenations. The narrow umbilical area is smooth. ^[2]

(Original description of Solarium ordinarium in Latin) The shell is orbicular-conoidal, depressed, and moderately umbilicated. It is whitish or tinted with lilac, and punctated with red. There are 5 whorls, which are scarcely somewhat convex. They are girdled with five obliquely granose ridges. The body whorl is acutely angled at the periphery. It is generally lilaceous, concentrically grooved and girdled. The girdle around the umbilicus is the largest and strongly crenated, while the remaining girdles are also more or less crenulated or sub-quadrately granulated. The aperture is trapeziform and is bi-channeled at the columella. ^[3]

Distribution

This marine species has a wide distribution and can be found in sand and shallow waters off the coast of North, Central and South America:; also off Spain.

References

1. Architectonica nobilis Röding, 1798 . 11 November 2025. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species .
2. Hinds, R.B. (1844). "Description of new species of shells". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1844 (12): 23. Retrieved 11 November 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
3. Smith, E.A. (1890). "Report on the marine molluscan fauna of the island of St. Helena". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1890 (2): 281. Retrieved 11 November 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

• Bieler, R. (1993). Architectonicidae of the Indo-Pacific (Mollusca, Gastropoda). Abhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg. NF. 30: 1-376.
• Jensen, R. H. (1997). A Checklist and Bibliography of the Marine Molluscs of Bermuda. Unp. , 547 pp
• Ramírez, R.; Paredes, C.; Arenas, J. (2003). Moluscos del Perú. Revista de Biologia Tropical. 51(supplement 3): 225-284.
• Rosenberg, G.; Moretzsohn, F.; García, E. F. (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. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas.
• Rolán E. (2005). Malacological Fauna From The Cape Verde Archipelago. Part 1, Polyplacophora and Gastropoda. ConchBooks. Hackenheim. ISBN 3-325319-73-2. 455 pp
• Bernard P.A. (1984). Coquillages du Gabon [Shells of Gabon]. Pierre A. Bernard: Libreville, Gabon. 140 pp, 75 plates, illus.

External links

• Röding, P.F. (1798). Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturæ quæ olim collegerat Joa. Fried Bolten, M. D. p. d. per XL. annos proto physicus Hamburgensis. Pars secunda continens Conchylia sive Testacea univalvia, bivalvia & multivalvia. Hamburg: Trapp. p. 78. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
• Lamarck, J. B. P. A. de M. de (1816). Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique des trois règnes de la nature, Mollusques et polypes divers. Part 23. Paris: Vve Agasse. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
• Valenciennes, A. (1832). Coquilles univalves marines de l'Amérique équinoxiale, recueillies pendant le voyage de MM. A. de Humboldt et A. Bonpland. In: Humboldt, A. von & Bonpland, A. (Eds), Recueil d'observations de zoologie et d'anatomie comparée: faites dans l'océan atlantique, dans l'intérieur du nouveau continent et dans la mer du sud pendant les années 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802 et 1803. Vol. 2: 262-339, pl. 57. Paris: J. Smith, and Gide. p. 269. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
• Philippi, R.A. (1849). "Centuria tertia testaceorum novorum". Zeitschrift für Malakozoologie. 5 (10): 172–173. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
• Mörch, O.A.L. (1859). "Beiträge zur Molluskenfauna Central-Amerika's". Malakozoologische Blätter. 6 (4): 102–126.
• Mörch, O.A.L. (1875). ". Synopsis molluscorum marinorum Indiarum occidentalium imprimis insularum danicarum". Malakozoologische Blätter. 22: 142–184.
• Nelson, E.T. (1870). "On the molluscan fauna of the later Tertiary of Peru". Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Science. 2: 194.