Aesopus obesus, common name the fat dovesnail, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Columbellidae, the dove snails.[1]

Aesopus obesus
Shell of Aesopus obesus (species at the Natural History Museum of Rotterdam)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
Subclass: Caenogastropoda
Order: Neogastropoda
Family: Columbellidae
Genus: Aesopus
Species:
A. obesus
Binomial name
Aesopus obesus
(Hinds, 1844)
Synonyms[1]
  • Aesopus metcalfei (Reeve, 1860)
  • Columbella acus Reeve, 1859
  • Columbella lumbricus Reeve, 1859
  • Terebra metcalfei Reeve, 1860
  • Terebra obesa Hinds, 1844

Description

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The size of an adult shell varies between 5 mm and 14 mm.

(Original description in Latin) The smotth shell is obese and awl-shaped. It is white, adorned with pale longitudinal brown spots. It features a few subrounded whorls, with the body whorl biseriately spotted. The spire is obsoletely folded. The aperture is oblong, and the columella is truncated. [2]

(Described as Columbella acus) The shell is narrowly elongated. It features minutely ribbed longitudinal patterns towards the apex. Its color is yellowish, irregularly streaked with orange-brown. The whorls are rather flattened. The aperture is very small, and the columella is slightly excavated and truncated. The outer lip is simple and scarcely denticulated within. [3]

Distribution

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This species occurs in the Caribbean Sea and the Lesser Antilles; in the Pacific Ocean from Colombia to Argentina in the Atlantic Ocean.

References

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  • Monsecour K. & Monsecour D. (2007) The Aesopus (Lavesopus) spiculus species complex in the tropical Indo-Pacific (Mollusca, Caenogastropoda, Columbellidae). Visaya 2(2): 57–61. [November 2007]
  • Monsecour K. (2010). Checklist of Columbellidae
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  • Reeve, L. A. (1860-1861). Monograph of the genus Terebra. In: Conchologia Iconica, or, illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals, vol. 12, pl. 1-27 and unpaginated text. L. Reeve & Co., London.
  • "Aesopus obesus". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  • Dall, W. H. (1912). New Californian Mollusca. The Nautilus. 25(11): 127-129