Hiloa variabilis

Hiloa variabilis, common name the minute pheasant, is a species of small sea snail with calcareous opercula, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Phasianellidae, the pheasant snails.^[1][2][3]

Hiloa variabilis
Shell of Hiloa variabilis (specimen at Naturalis Biodiversity Center)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Vetigastropoda
Order:	Trochida
Superfamily:	Trochoidea
Family:	Phasianellidae
Genus:	Hiloa
Species:	H. variabilis
Binomial name
Hiloa variabilis (Pease, 1860)
Synonyms[1]
Collonia variabilis Pease, 1860 (original combination) Eutropia (Tricolia) virgo Angas, 1867 Eutropia virgo Angas, 1867 Phasianella gregaria Laseron, C.F., 1955 Phasianella megastoma Pilsbry, 1895 (junior synonym) Phasianella oligomphala Pilsbry, 1895 (junior synonym) Phasianella thaanumi Pilsbry, 1917 Phasianella variabilis Pease, Pilsbry, 1888 Tricolia bryani Pilsbry, H.A., 1917 Tricolia megastoma Pilsbry, H.A., 1895 Tricolia molokaiensis Pilsbry, H.A., 1917 Tricolia oligomphala (Pilsbry, 1895) Tricolia thaanumi Pilsbry, H.A., 1917 Tricolia variabilis (Pease, 1861) Tricolia virgo Angas, G.F., 1867

Description

The thin, ovate, rather solid shell has a moderately long and shining spire. Its height is 5 mm. The 3-4 convexly rounded whorls are marked with very fine oblique longitudinal striae. The inner lip is callous, slightly expanded at the base, indented at the umbilical region and with a groove behind the inner lip. The aperture is ovate. The color of the shell is white, variously painted with pink lines and blotches. These lines are fine, oblique, and extend over a portion of the whorls. They are sometimes flexuous and cover the whole surface. The blotches have a longitudinal shape. The periphery of the body whorl usually ornamented with a row of pink spots. The axis is perforate. The peristome does not project forward at junction of columellar and basal margins.^[4]

Distribution

This species occurs in the tropical and temperate Indo-West Pacific, off Hawaii and off Australia.