Amoria damonii
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| Amoria damonii | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Apertural view of a shell of Amoria damonii | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Neogastropoda |
| Family: | Volutidae |
| Genus: | Amoria |
| Subgenus: | Amoria |
| Species: | A. damonii |
| Binomial name | |
| Amoria damonii Gray, 1864 | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Amoria damonii, common name Damon's volute, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Volutidae, the volutes.[1]
It forms a complex of attractive, large shells which has been studied extensively by Abbottsmith.[2][3]
It was named in honor of English conchologist Robert Damon (1814–1889).[4]
According to Bail et al. (2001) the following taxa can be differentiated:
- Amoria (Amoria) damonii damonii Gray 1864
- = reticulata (Reeve, 1844)
- = hedleyi (Iredale, 1914)
- Amoria (Amoria) damonii forma keatsiana Ludbrook, 1953
- = gatliffi (Sowerby III, 1910)
- Amoria (Amoria) damonii reevei (Sowerby II, 1864)
- Amoria (Amoria) damonii ludbrookae Bail & Limpus, 1997
Description
Amoria damonii has a large size that varies between 75 and 140 mm.[5]
The shell surface exhibits a network of closely spaced, angular intersecting lines, resulting in a pattern of crowded triangular spots. The sutural callosity is very dark. The protoconch is glossy, domed, white on the early whorls, tawny later. The spire is conical with a deep-set suture.[6]
Distribution
The Amoria damonii complex includes four large, evidently correlated populations of Amoria, whose distribution extends from Cape Leeuwin (S.W. Australia) to the northern east coast of Queensland,[5][7][8][9] i.e. for more than 6,500 km of coastline. Such a large range, rare in Volutidae, is even more unusual for an Amoria. This long stretch of coastline implies genetic differentiation and favours polytypism, giving rise to many taxonomic problems.
