Laevistrombus turturella
Laevistrombus turturella is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Strombidae (true conches).[1] It is one of seven living species currently recognized as valid in its genus.[2] DistributionPhilippines area.
TaxonomyThere is some disagreement in the literature as to whether or not this taxon and the similar-looking Laevistrombus canarium are actually separate species. Man In 'T Veld & Turck (1998) considered that L. canarium and L. turturella are distinct (yet sympatric) species, based mainly on the shell morphology and a radula comparison.[3] However, when Cob et. al. reviewed a number of Strombus species in 2009, examining both shell characters and anatomical data including details of the genitalia, operculum and radula, he concluded that L. turturella was simply a morphotype, and therefore a synonym of L. canarium.[4] In 2019, Maxwell et al. examined the early teleoconch (upper post-larval shell spiral) morphology of specimens of Laevistrombus species; they treated L. turturella as a valid species, and elevated several names synonymized with L. canarium or L. turturella to full species status.[5] References
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