Harpa davidis

Harpa davidis
Five views of a shell of Harpa davidis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
(unranked): clade Caenogastropoda
clade Hypsogastropoda
clade Neogastropoda
Superfamily: Muricoidea
Family: Harpidae
Genus: Harpa
Species: H. davidis
Binomial name
Harpa davidis
Röding, 1798
Synonyms[1]
  • Harpa conoidalis Lamarck, 1822
  • Harpa major Röding, 1798
  • Harpa nablium Mörch, 1852
  • Harpa ventricosa Lamarck, 1816

Harpa davidis, common name the Madras harp or David harp, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Harpidae, the harp snails.[1]

Distribution

This species is widespread over Indo-Pacific, from eastern Africa to Hawaii and it is present in the South Eastern India and in the Andaman Sea.[2][3][4]

A shell of Harpa davidis

Habitat

The Madras harp lives on sublittoral and offshore sandy bottoms at depths of 5 to 250 m.[5]

Description

Shells of Harpa davidis can reach a size of 60–119 millimetres (2.4–4.7 in).[2] These shells are usually smoothy and glossy, pale brown or reddish-brown, with strong axial ribs, a wide aperture and characteristic decorative markings. The ventral side of body whorl usually shows two-three large brown blotches,[5] but may also be completely brown.

Bibliography

References

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