Naticarius stercusmuscarum, the Fly-specked Moon Snail, is a species of predatory sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Naticidae, the moon snails.[1]
| Naticarius stercusmuscarum Temporal range:
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| Fossil shell of Naticarius stercusmuscarum from Pleistocene of Italy | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Caenogastropoda |
| Order: | Littorinimorpha |
| Family: | Naticidae |
| Genus: | Naticarius |
| Species: | N. stercusmuscarum
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| Binomial name | |
| Naticarius stercusmuscarum (Gmelin, 1791)
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| Synonyms | |
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Description
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Shells of Naticarius stercusmuscarum can reach a size of 25–56 millimetres (0.98–2.20 in).[2] The shell surface is yellow or color cream with dense, small, red-brown dots. The mantle and the foot of this mollusk are brownish dotted with bright spots. It has a well-developed foot with the two cephalic visible appendages.[3]
Distribution and habitat
editThis quite common species can be found in the Mediterranean sea and in North Western Africa.[2] It lives mostly on sandy and muddy seabeds but it can also be found on rocky bottoms.[3]
Fossils of this species can be found in sediment of Italy and Greece from Pleistocene to recent.[4]
References
edit- ^ WoRMS
- ^ a b "Naticarius stercusmuscarum". Gastropods.com. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ a b Aiamitalia
- ^ Evi Vardala-Theodorou & Artemis Nicolaidou On the Recent and fossil malacofauna of “Vouliagmeni Lake”, Perachora (Korinthiakos Gulf, Greece)
- Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213
- Huelsken T., Marek K., Schreiber S., Schmidt I. & Hollmann M. (2008). The Naticidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda) of Giglio Island (Tuscany, Italy): Shell characters, live animals, and a molecular analysis of egg masses. Zootaxa 1770: 1-40