Amoria praetexta

Amoria praetexta
Apertural view of a shell of Amoria praetexta
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Volutidae
Genus:	Amoria
Species:	A. praetexta
Binomial name
Amoria praetexta (Reeve, 1849)
Synonyms[1]
Amoria (Amoria) praetexta (Reeve, 1849) Amoria turneri cumingi Gray, 1864 Voluta praetexta Reeve, 1849 (original combination)

Amoria praetexta, common name the pretext volute, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes.[1]

Description

The length of the shell varies between 34 mm and 75 mm.

(Original description) The shell is somewhat elongate-ovate, truncated at the base. The spire is relatively short, with a papillary and slightly acuminate apex. The whorls are initially slanted, then become flatly convex. The columella exhibits three distinct plaits. The aperture is slightly effused, and the outer lip is scarcely thickened.

The shell is whitish in color, adorned with a fine, neat reticulation across its entire surface. The sutural edge of each whorl is spotted with very dark chestnut, and two bands of distant, flexuous, linear spots encircle the shell. The interior of the aperture is tinged with chestnut. [2]

Distribution

This marine species is endemic to Australia and occurs off Northern Territory and Western Australia.

References

1. Amoria praetexta (Reeve, 1849). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 8 November 2012.
2. Reeve, L.A. (1849). Monograph of the genus Voluta. In: Conchologia Iconica, or, illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals, vol. 6, pls 1-22 and unpaginated text. London: L. Reeve & Co. Retrieved 2 February 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

• Bail P. & Limpus A. (2001) The genus Amoria. In: G.T. Poppe & K. Groh (eds) A conchological iconography. Hackenheim: Conchbooks. 50 pp., 93 pls.
• Poppe, G.T. & Goto, Y. 1992. Volutes. Ancona : L'Informatore Piceno 348 pp., pl. 1-107.
• Weaver, C.S. & du Pont, J.E. 1970. Living Volutes - A Monograph of the Recent Volutidae of the World. Monograph Series No. 1. Greenville Delaware : Delaware Museum of Natural History pp. 1-375.
• Wilson, B. 1994. Australian marine shells. Prosobranch gastropods. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp.

External links

• Gray, J.E. (1864). "Some observations on the genus Amoria, with descriptions of some varieties". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 3 (14): 237.
• "Amoria praetexta". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 15 January 2019.