Nassarius albescens

Nassarius albescens, common name : the whitish nassa, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Nassariidae, the Nassa mud snails or dog whelks.^[1]

Nassarius albescens
Shell of Nassarius albescens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Nassariidae
Genus:	Nassarius
Species:	N. albescens
Binomial name
Nassarius albescens (Dunker, 1846)
Synonyms[1]
Buccinum albescens Dunker, 1846 Nassa (Niotha) albescens (Dunker, 1846) Nassa (Niotha) reicosa A. Adams, 1852 Nassa adamsiana Marrat, 1880 Nassa albescens (Dunker, 1846) Nassa baguenai Giner Mari, 1934 Nassa bicolor Hombron & Jacquinot, 1848 Nassa retecosa Adams, A., 1852 Nassarius (Niotha) albescens (Dunker, 1846) Nassarius (Niotha) albescens albescens (Dunker, 1846) Nassarius albescens albescens (Dunker, 1846)

The subspecies : Nassarius albescens gemmuliferus (A. Adams, 1852) is a synonym of Nassarius gemmuliferus (A. Adams, 1852) )^[2] (synonyms : Nassa (Niotha) albescens var. fenestratus (Marrat, 1877); Nassa (Niotha) fenestrata (Marrat, 1877); Nassa fenestrata Marratt, 1877; Nassa gemmulifera A. Adams, 1852; Nassa isabellei Reeve, 1853; Nassarius (Niotha) albescens gemmuliferus (A. Adams, 1852); Nassarius (Niotha) fenestratus (Marrat, 1877); Nassarius (Niotha) fenestratus var. gestroi Bisacchi, 1930; Nassarius fenestratus (Marratt, 1877);

Description

The length of the shell varies between 9 mm and 25 mm. Its surface sculpture has a distinctive fine network of evenly spaced nodules. The columella is narrow or wide. The overall colour of the shell is creamy white while the aperture is brown.^[1]

Distribution

This species is distributed in the Indian Ocean off Madagascar and in the Pacific Ocean off the Philippines and Australia; also reaching Japan.^[3]