Architectonica purpurata

Architectonica purpurata, common name the partridge sundial, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Architectonicidae, the sundials.^[1]

Architectonica purpurata
A shell of Architectonica purpurata (specimen at the Natural History Museum Rotterdam)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Family:	Architectonicidae
Genus:	Architectonica
Species:	A. purpurata
Binomial name
Architectonica purpurata (Hinds, 1844)
Synonyms
Solarium purpurata Hinds, 1844

Description

(Original description in Latin) The shell is conico-orbicular, in other words it has essentially a low, depressed cone with a rounded base. The whorls are somewhat swollen. The whorls of the spire are longitudinally and obliquely folded (plicate), and they are girdled superiorly by two grooves (sulci). They are adorned with sub-paired, rufous-brown spots. The median area is pale ashy. The shell is keeled at the periphery and articulately spotted. The base has rufous-brown stripes that are radiately arranged. The umbilicus is somewhat wide-open and possesses small whitish crenations.^[2]

Distribution

This marine species can be found in the coastal waters of India, Sri Lanka, Borneo, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Habitat

Architectonica perdix lives on sandy bottoms, at depths of 10–60 m.