Monilea belcheri

Monilea belcheri, common name Belcher's top shell, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Trochidae, the top snails.^[2][3][4]

Monilea belcheri
Five views of a shell of the brown form of Monilea belcheri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Vetigastropoda
Order:	Trochida
Superfamily:	Trochoidea
Family:	Trochidae
Genus:	Monilea
Species:	M. belcheri
Binomial name
Monilea belcheri Philippi, 1849[1]
Synonyms
Trochus belcheri Philippi, 1849 (original combination)

Description

Red form

The size of the shell varies between 12 mm and 17 mm. The umbilicate, thin shell has a depressed-conoidal shape. It is sharply transversely lirate with narrow, elevated, sharp lirae, of which three are stronger, alternating with two or three smaller ones; about 12 similar ones are on the base; all of them are crossed and made subgranose by closely crowded growth lines. Its surface is white, painted with scattered red dots and a few larger red spots. The apex is white or rose-red. The strongly convex whorls are separated by a subcanaliculate suture, the last rounded. The umbilicus is moderate in size and surrounded by a peculiarly reddish-brown colored callus. The aperture is subrhomboidal. The columella is nearly perpendicular and incised at its base.^[5]

Distribution

This marine species occurs on sandy beaches and in the subtidal zone off Thailand and in the Western Pacific (Fiji, Tonga, New Caledonia) and off Japan and Queensland, Australia.