Arene fricki

Arene fricki
Shell of Arene fricki (specimen at Naturalis Biodiversity Center)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Vetigastropoda
Order:	Trochida
Superfamily:	Trochoidea
Family:	Areneidae
Genus:	Arene
Species:	A. fricki
Binomial name
Arene fricki (Crosse, 1865)
Synonyms
Collonia frickiCrosse, 1865 (original combination) Liotia rammataDall, 1918 junior subjective synonym

Arene fricki is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Areneidae. ^{[1] [2]}

The species was first described by Crosse in 1865. It belongs to the genus Arene, which comprises small, top-shaped sea snails with distinctive shell features. ^[3]

Description

The shell can grow to be 3mm to 5 mm in length, its diameter 5.5 mm. ^[4] The shell of Arene fricki is small and trochiform (top-shaped), typical for the genus. The shell generally displays pronounced spiral and axial sculpturing, providing a textured surface. Coloration tends to be pale or muted, sometimes with subtle patterns. The species has a calcareous operculum, a feature consistent with other members of its genus. ^[5]

(Original description in Latin) The shell is narrowly umbilicate, depressed-turbinate (low top-shaped), and shaped like a Angaria (Röding, 1798) or ram's horn shell. It is rather thick and colored whitish, variegated (mottled) to a greater or lesser degree with black.

The shell has four post-nuclear whorls that increase rapidly in size. The 1½ whorls of the protoconch are smooth and whitish. The sides of the whorls are sub-flat near the suture and more convex below.

The sculpture consists of very fine spiral striae and two strong ribs that form a keel, girdling the shell. The suture is sub-crenulated (minutely notched). The body whorl is tricostate-carinate (bearing three ribs that form keels). These ribs are often more or less articulated (jointed or patterned) with black and white. The whorl descends slightly toward the aperture.

The base is flatly convex and is sculptured with spiral, granulate striae. The aperture is rounded and white, but not pearly (non-nacreous) internally. The outer lip is strongly thickened. ^[6]

Distribution

Arene fricki can be found from Pacific Mexico to Panama. ^[4]

References

1. Arene fricki (Crosse, 1865) . 16 October 2025. Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species .
2. Keen M. (1971) Sea shells of tropical West America. Marine mollusks from Baja California to Perú, ed. 2. Stanford University Press. 1064 pp.
3. "Arene fricki (Crosse, 1865)". MolluscaBase. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
4. "Arene fricki". www.gastropods.com. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
5. Cavallari, D.C.; Absalao, R.S.; Denadai, M.R. (2018). "A new species of Arene (Vetigastropoda, Areneidae) from southeastern Brazil". Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia. 58: e20185832. doi:10.11606/1807-0205/2018.58.32.
6. Crosse, H. (1865). "Diagnoses molluscorum novorum". Journal de Conchyliologie. 13 (1): 55. Retrieved 16 October 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

External links

• Dall, W.H. (1918). "Description of new species of shells, chiefly from Magdalena Bay, Lower California". Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. 31: 5–8.
• Biodiversity Heritage Library (2 publications)
• ITIS