Ancilla castanea

Ancilla castanea
	Shell of Ancilla castanea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Ancillariidae
Genus:	Ancilla
Species:	A. castanea
Binomial name
	Ancilla castanea; (G.B. Sowerby I, 1830)
Synonyms
	Ancilla (Sparella) castanea (G. B. Sowerby I, 1830) alternative representation; Ancilla castanea f. aurantiaca Scali, 2023 unavailable name (infrasubspecific name); Ancillaria castanea G. B. Sowerby I, 1830 (original combination); Ancillaria deshayesii G. B. Sowerby II, 1859 junior subjective synonym;

Ancilla castanea is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Ancillariidae.^[2]

Subspecies

Ancilla castanea albolutea Scali, 2023
Ancilla castanea castanea (G. B. Sowerby I, 1830)
Ancilla castanea lutoflava Scali, 2023

Description

The shell ranges in size from 25 to 32 mm.

(Original description in Latin) The shell is oblong-ovate, ventricose, and chestnut-colored. The spire is subacuminate with a white apex. The body whorl is equipped with two basal bands and a groove above the varix. The columellar varix is whitish, with a sinistral groove and some oblique striae. The aperture is subacuminate superiorly, with a strong tooth on the outer lip near the base. ^[3]

Distribution

This species is found in the Indian Ocean, specifically in sandy areas of shallow water off the coast of Oman. Its range also extends from the southern Red Sea to the Persian Gulf and to India.

References

^ Sowerby G.B. I (1830). Species Conchylirum or concise original descriptions and accompanied by figures of all the species of Recent shells, with their varieties. G.B. Sowerby, London.. World Register of Marine Species, Retrieved 28 April 2010.
^ Ancilla castanea (G.B. Sowerby I, 1830). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 28 April 2010.
^ Sowerby, G.B. I (1830). Species conchyliorum, or, Concise original descriptions and observations accompanied by figures of all the species of recent shells, with their varieties. Vol. I, part I. London: G.B. Sowerby. p. 4. Retrieved 5 August 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Scali, M. (2023). Description of two new subspecies of Ancilla castanea (G. B. Sowerby I, 1830): Ancilla castanea lutoflava ssp. nov.; Ancilla castanea albolutea ssp. nov. and notes on a new color form of Ancilla castanea (G. B. Sowerby I, 1830) Ancilla castanea f. aurantiaca. Xenophora Taxonomy. 40: 36-41
Kilburn R.N. (1981). Revision of the genus Ancilla Lamarck, 1799 (Mollusca: Olividae: Ancillinae). Annals of the Natal Museum. 24(2): 349-463.
Boyer F. (2015). Révision des Ancilla (Olividae: Ancillinae) de Masirah. Xenophora Taxonomy. 9: 3-14.

External links

Sowerby, G.B. II (1859). Monograph of the genus Ancillaria. In: G. B. Sowerby II (ed.), Thesaurus Conchyliorum, or monographs of Genera of Shells, vol. 3 (19). London: privately published. p. 60.<

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[1] Sowerby G.B. I (1830). Species Conchylirum or concise original descriptions and accompanied by figures of all the species of Recent shells, with their varieties. G.B. Sowerby, London.. World Register of Marine Species, Retrieved 28 April 2010.

[WoRMS-2] Ancilla castanea (G.B. Sowerby I, 1830). Retrieved through: World Register of Marine Species on 28 April 2010.

[3] Sowerby, G.B. I (1830). Species conchyliorum, or, Concise original descriptions and observations accompanied by figures of all the species of recent shells, with their varieties. Vol. I, part I. London: G.B. Sowerby. p. 4. Retrieved 5 August 2025. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

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