Tristichotrochus aculeatus (G. B. Sowerby Iii 1912)

Tristichotrochus aculeatus, common name the prickly Japanese top shell, is a species of medium-sized deepwater sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the subfamily Calliostomatinae of the family Calliostomatidae.^[1]

Subspecies

• Tristichotrochus aculeatus aculeatus (G. B. Sowerby III, 1912)
• Tristichotrochus aculeatus aliguayensis (Poppe, Tagaro & Dekker, 2006)

Shell description

The shell is conical, with straight spire outlines, and six whorls. The external shell coloration is light brown, with darker brown irregular flecks. The shell height is up to 22 mm, and the width is up to 15 mm.^[2]

Distribution

This marine species lives off the Philippines. It is found off Aliguay Island, Mindanao. It lives at depths of about 100 m on muddy sand bottoms.^[2] It also occurs off southern Japan and Taiwan.

References

• Petit R.E. (2009) George Brettingham Sowerby, I, II & III: their conchological publications and molluscan taxa. Zootaxa 2189: 1–218
• Bouchet, P.; Fontaine, B. (2009). List of new marine species described between 2002-2006. Census of Marine Life.
• Poppe, Guido T. (guido@conchology.be); Tagaro, Sheila P.; Dekker, Henk. 2006. Visaya Supplement: Supplement 2 Pages: 3-228