Phorcus mutabilis

Phorcus mutabilis is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Trochidae, the top snails.^[1]

Phorcus mutabilis
Phorcus mutabilis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Vetigastropoda
Order:	Trochida
Superfamily:	Trochoidea
Family:	Trochidae
Subfamily:	Cantharidinae
Genus:	Phorcus
Species:	P. mutabilis
Binomial name
Phorcus mutabilis (Philippi, 1846)
Synonyms[1]
Monodonta mutabilis (Philippi, 1846) Osilinus mutabilis (Philippi, 1846) Osilinus mutabilis divaricatoides Nordsieck, 1974 Osilinus mutabilis farolito Nordsieck, 1974 Trochus intermedius Monterosato, 1872 Trochus mongenii Monterosato, 1872 Trochus mutabilis Philippi, 1846 (original description)

Description

The size of the shell varies between 12 mm and 24 mm. The solid, globose-conoid shell is umbilicate or subimperforate. It resembles a young Phorcus articulatus. Its color is usually grayish-yellow, yellow or flesh-tinted, more or less obviously marked with obliquely radiating lines or maculations of dull crimson, sometimes broken into tessellations, sometimes faintly, minutely articulated with reddish, appearing nearly unicolored. The short spire is conoid. The suture is impressed. The 5 to 6 whorls are slightly convex and spirally finely grooved. The body whorl is somewhat flattened around the upper part. The large aperture is very oblique. The lip forms half of a circle. It is not so much thickened nor beveled within as in Phorcus articulatus. The columella is more flattened than that of Phorcus articulatus. It is scarcely edged with pearl, the tooth or lobe less heavy, more acute than that species. The umbilical region is always more excavated than Phorcus articulatus. The umbilicus is open, or nearly closed by the callus at the insertion of the columella.^[2]

Distribution

This species occurs in the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea and in the Atlantic Ocean off Portugal.