Vexillum polygonum

Vexillum polygonum
Shell of Vexillum polygonum (specimen at the Natural History Museum, London)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Gastropoda
Subclass:	Caenogastropoda
Order:	Neogastropoda
Family:	Costellariidae
Genus:	Vexillum
Species:	V. polygonum
Binomial name
Vexillum polygonum (Gmelin, 1791)
Synonyms[1]
Costellaria marmorea (J.F. Gmelin, 1791) Costellaria similis (J.F. Gmelin, 1791) Mitra aurata Röding, 1798 Mitra marmorea Adams, A. 1853 Vexillum (Costellaria) polygonum (Gmelin, 1791) Voluta polygona Gmelin, 1791 (original combination)

Vexillum polygonum is a species of small sea snail, marine gastropod mollusk in the family Costellariidae, the ribbed miters.^[1]

The length of the shell attains 34 mm. Adult shells are slender and fusiform, ranging from about 20 to 40 mm in length. Each whorl bears 14–18 broad axial ribs crossed by fine spiral threads that create a low-noded, “quilted” sculpture. Background colour varies from ivory-cream to pinkish, over-lain by irregular chestnut-brown blotches that form polygonal patches—hence the specific epithet polygonum. The aperture is narrow; the columella displays four distinct plaits, the anterior two being strongest, and the inner lip is smooth.^[2]

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This marine species occurs in the Indo-West Pacific (Madagascar, the Philippines, Solomon islands, New Caledonia); also off Australia (Queensland).

• Adams, A. 1853. Descriptions of fifty-two new species of the Genus Mitra, from the Cumingian Collection. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1851(19): 132-141
• Melvill, J.C. & Sykes, E.R. 1898. Notes on a collection of marine shells from the Andaman Islands, with descriptions of new forms of Terebra. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London 3: 35-48, pl. 3
• Hedley, C. 1899. The Mollusca of Funafuti. Part 1. Gastropoda. Memoirs of the Australian Museum 3(7): 395–488, 49 text figs
• Schepman, M.M. 1911. The Prosobranchia of the Siboga Expedition. Part 4: Rhachiglossa. pp. 247-364, pls 18-24 in Weber, M. (ed.). Siboga Expeditie. Monograph 49.
• Cernohorsky, W.O. 1970. Systematics of the families Mitridae & Volutomitridae (Mollusca: Gastropoda). Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum. Auckland, New Zealand 8: 1-190
• Salvat, B. & Rives, C. 1975. Coquillages de Polynésie. Tahiti : Papéete Les editions du pacifique, 391 pp.
• Cernohorsky, W.O. 1978. Tropical Pacific marine shells. Sydney : Pacific Publications 352 pp., 68 pls.
• Salisbury, R. 2000. Costellariidae of the World, Pt. 3. Of Sea and Shore 23(1): 4-14
• Springsteen, F.J. & Leobrera, F.M. 1986. Shells of the Philippines. Manila : Carfel Seashell Museum 377 pp., 100 pls.
• Wilson, B. 1994. Australian marine shells. Prosobranch gastropods. Kallaroo, WA : Odyssey Publishing Vol. 2 370 pp.
• Arnaud, J.P., Berthault, C., Jeanpierre, R., Martin, J.C. & Martin, P. 2002. Costellariidae et Mitridae de Nouvelle Calédonie. Xenophora. Association française de conchyliologie. Supplément 100: 52 pp.

^{[1] [2]}

• Gmelin, J. F. (1791). Vermes. In: Gmelin J.F. (Ed.) Caroli a Linnaei Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, Ed. 13. Tome 1(6). G.E. Beer, Lipsiae
• Röding, P. F. (1798). Museum Boltenianum sive Catalogus cimeliorum e tribus regnis naturæ quæ olim collegerat Joa. Fried Bolten, M. D. p. d. per XL. annos proto physicus Hamburgensis. Pars secunda continens Conchylia sive Testacea univalvia, bivalvia & multivalvia. Trapp, Hamburg. viii, 199 pp

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