Prothalotia suturalis

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

Prothalotia suturalis
Drawing with an apertural view of a shell of Prothalotia suturalis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Vetigastropoda
Order:	Trochida
Superfamily:	Trochoidea
Family:	Trochidae
Subfamily:	Cantharidinae
Genus:	Prothalotia
Species:	P. suturalis
Binomial name
Prothalotia suturalis (A. Adams, 1853)
Synonyms
Cantharidus suturalis (A. Adams, 1853) Jujubinus suturalis (A. Adams, 1853) Thalotia suturalis A. Adams, 1853

Description

The height of the shell attains 8 mm, its diameter also 8 mm. The small, solid, imperforate shell has a pyramidal shape. The apex is eroded, but the whorls apparently number six. They are flattened, slightly gradated, the body whorl descending a little at the aperture. The colour is pale yellow, tessellated with small, longitudinal undulating purple spots. The sculpture: low, flat-topped spiral ribs equal to the intervening spaces, on the body whorl twelve, of which half are basal. The aperture is subquadrate. The columella is short and terminates below in a blunt tubercle. The sutures are impressed. The base of the shell is flat. The inner lip is turned inwards and is greenish.^[2][3]

Distribution

This marine species is endemic to Australia and occurs off Northern Queensland and in the Gulf of Carpentaria.^[4]