Guraleus fascinus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Guraleus fascinus |
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| Shell of Guraleus fascinus | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Neogastropoda |
| Superfamily: | Conoidea |
| Family: | Mangeliidae |
| Genus: | Guraleus |
| Species: |
G. fascinus
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| Binomial name | |
| Guraleus fascinus Hedley, 1922
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| Synonyms | |
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Guraleus (Guraleus) fascinus Hedley, 1922 |
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The Guraleus fascinus is a type of sea snail. It's a marine gastropod mollusk, which means it's a creature with a soft body and usually a shell, living in the ocean. This snail belongs to a group of snails called the Mangeliidae family.
There's also a special kind of Guraleus fascinus called a subspecies: Guraleus fascinus stephenensis, also identified by Hedley in 1922.
Contents
About the Guraleus fascinus Snail
What Does it Look Like?
Shell Shape and Size
The shell of the Guraleus fascinus snail can grow up to 9 millimeters long. That's about the size of a small pea! Its widest part, called the diameter, is about 4 millimeters.
The shell has a long, spindle-like shape. The main part of the shell, called the body whorl, makes up about half of its total length. The turns of the shell, known as whorls, have a noticeable angle or "shoulder" where they meet.
Shell Colors
The color of the Guraleus fascinus shell can vary. Some shells are a plain cream-buff color. Others might be brown-buff with a lighter band near the bottom and another pale band at the very tip. Sometimes, every fourth spiral line on the shell is lighter than the others. You might even find a white shell with a bright orange-brown band around its base!
Shell Patterns
This snail's shell has interesting patterns, also known as sculpture. You can see clear ridges, called ribs, that run all the way down the shell, usually about twelve of them on the second-to-last turn. On the largest part of the shell, these ribs gradually get smaller and disappear towards the bottom. The entire surface of the shell is also covered in tiny, very fine, sharp lines that spiral around it.
The Shell's Opening
The opening of the shell, called the aperture or mouth, is quite wide. The outer edge of this opening has a slight ridge and a thin, slightly curved rim. At the bottom of the opening, there's a short tube called the siphonal canal. The shell also has a wide and shallow notch, known as a sinus.
Where Does it Live?
This sea snail is endemic to Australia. This means it's only found naturally in Australia and nowhere else in the world! You can find Guraleus fascinus living off the coasts of New South Wales, Tasmania, and Western Australia.
