Drillia dunkeri

Drillia dunkeri
Apertural view of a shell of Drillia dunkeri (museum specimen at Naturalis Biodiversity Center)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Superfamily:	Conoidea
Family:	Drilliidae
Genus:	Drillia
Species:	D. dunkeri
Binomial name
Drillia dunkeri (Weinkauff, 1876)

Drillia dunkeri is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Drilliidae. It was originally described by Weinkauff in 1876 as Pleurotoma (Clavus) dunkeri. ^{[1] [2]}

Original illustration of Drillia dunkeri (as Pleurotoma (Clavus) dunkeri) from Weinkauff (1876)

Taxonomy

The species was originally described as Pleurotoma (Clavus) dunkeri by Weinkauff in 1876. It is currently placed in the genus Drillia within the family Drilliidae, following subsequent taxonomic revisions. ^{[2] [1]}

The name Drillia dunkeri(Knudsen, 1952) is a junior homonym and has been replaced by Drillia knudseni ( Tippett, 2006.) ^[1]

Description

The shell is strombiform in shape, solid, and narrowly rimate. It reaches a length of up to 31 mm and a maximum diameter of about 13 mm. The spire is high and turreted, composed of approximately 11 convex whorls with a distinct, slightly undulating suture. ^[2]

The whorls bear strong longitudinal ribs, typically eight on the penultimate whorl, which are nodulose and intersected by numerous fine, rough spiral lirae. The shell surface appears finely scabrous due to these spiral elements. Shell coloration is yellowish, ornamented with a darker brownish band. ^[2]

The aperture is elongate and white internally, terminating in a short, slightly twisted siphonal canal that is only weakly notched at the base. The columella is curved, well coated, and faintly calloused above. The outer lip is thin, sharp, and wing-like, bearing a shallow sinus below and a wide, deep sinus above. ^[2]

Distribution

This species occurs in the demersal zone of the Atlantic Ocean off West Africa.

References

1. Gofas, S. (2015). Drillia dunkeri (Weinkauff, 1876). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=591987 on 2016-09-01
2. Weinkauff, Heinrich Conrad, Chemnitz, Johann Hieronymus, Kobelt, Wilhelm, Martini, Friedrich Heinrich Wilhelm (1887). Die Familie Pleurotomidae [The Pleuromidae Family] (in Latin and German). Vol. 4. Verlag von Bauer & Raspe (Emil Küster). pp. 75–76.

• Tucker, J.K. 2004 Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Zootaxa 682:1–1295
• Tippett D.L. (2006a) Taxonomic notes on some Indo-Pacific and West African Drillia species (Conoidea: Drillidae). Iberus, 24, 13-21-page(s): 14-17