Harpa cabriti

Harpa cabriti, previously known as Harpa ventricosa Lamarck, 1816,[1] common name the ventral harp, is a species of large sea snail, a predatory marine gastropod mollusk in the family Harpidae, the harp snails.[2]

Harpa cabriti
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Harpidae
Genus: Harpa
Species:
H. cabriti
Binomial name
Harpa cabriti
Fischer, 1860
Synonyms[1]
  • Harpa striata Lamarck, 1816
  • Harpa ventricosa Lamarck, 1816

The shell is often collected by shell-collecting hobbyists.

Description

The pretty large, oval shell is ventricose, and polished. It is ornamented with more or less distant, wide, compressed, smooth, parallel ribs, inclined towards the base, of a pale rose color, most commonly with quadrangular deep brown spots. These ribs are pointed at their summit, and a little below these form a slight keel, caused by small asperities. The interstice between the ribs is slightly striated longitudinally. The ground color of the shell is whitish or violet, adorned with brown or reddish spots, forming regular festoons throughout its whole length. There are found also upon the surface of the shell two or three bands, sometimes replaced by large spots, which alike surround it. The middle band is always most apparent. The spire is short and is composed of six whorls slightly flattened above. The large aperture is reddish, terminated at its base by an oblique, shallow emargination, marked within with brown spots or bands. The outer lip is bordered externally by the last rib. The columella is smooth, brilliant, and almost covered with very dark brown spots.[3]

Distribution

This marine snail is found from the Red Sea south to South Africa.[4] It lives in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

References
  1. Rehder H. A. (1992). "Harpa cabriti Fischer, 1860, a replacement name for Harpa ventricosa Lamarck, 1816". The Nautilus 106(3): 123-124.
  2. Bouchet, P. (2015). Harpa cabriti P. Fischer, 1860. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=403831 on 2016-05-26
  3. Kiener (1840). General species and iconography of recent shells : comprising the Massena Museum, the collection of Lamarck, the collection of the Museum of Natural History, and the recent discoveries of travellers; Boston :W.D. Ticknor,1837 (described as Harpa ventricosa)
  4. Accessed 14 January 2010.
  • DANCE, S.P. & G.T. POPPE, 1999 Family Harpidae. In : A Conchological Iconography (ConchBooks, ed.), 69 p
  • "Harpa cabriti". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  • Page with an image from the Natural History Museum of Rotterdam
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