Steromphala cineraria

Steromphala cineraria is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Trochidae, the top snails.^[1]

Steromphala cineraria
Shell of Steromphala cineraria
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Vetigastropoda
Order:	Trochida
Superfamily:	Trochoidea
Family:	Trochidae
Subfamily:	Cantharidinae
Genus:	Steromphala
Species:	S. cineraria
Binomial name
Steromphala cineraria (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms[1]
Gibbula cineraria (Linnaeus, 1758) Gibbula (Gibbula) cineraria cineraria (Linnaeus, 1758) Scrobiculinus strigosus (Gmelin, 1791) Scrobiculinus strigosus var. depressa Pallary, 1920 Scrobiculinus strigosus var. elevata Pallary, 1920 Scrobiculinus strigosus var. rubra Pallary, 1920 Trochus cinerarius Linnaeus, 1758 (basionym) Trochus cinerarius var. variegata Jeffreys, 1865 Trochus electissimus Bean in Thorpe, 1844 Trochus eltoniae R. T. Lowe, 1861 Trochus fumosus Philippi, 1849 Trochus inflatus Blainville, 1826 Trochus lineatus da Costa, 1778 Trochus philippii Aradas, 1847 Trochus strigosus Gmelin, 1791

Description

The size of the shell varies between 12 mm and 18 mm. The thick, narrowly umbilicate, rarely imperforate shell has a conical, thick shape. It is cinereous, densely marked with numerous narrow longitudinal brown or reddish lines, or broader stripes. The 6 whorls are flattened, with 7 or 8 thread-like spiral ridges on the upper surface of the body whorl, with often one or two finer striae between each ridge, and about a dozen fine ridge-like striae on the under side. The body whorl is angulate at the periphery, somewhat convex beneath. The aperture is subrhomboidal and smooth within. The columella is straightened in the middle. The umbilicus is narrow.^[2]

Distribution

This species occurs in the North Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and in the Atlantic Ocean (Azores, Canary Islands, Morocco).