You can mark you interesting snippets of text that will be available through a unique link in your browser.

turban shell

turban shell

▪ gastropod family
 any marine snail of the family Turbinidae (subclass Prosobranchia of the class Gastropoda) that has a wide aperture in the first whorl of the stout shell, which is topped by a bulbous, turbanlike coil. The shell may be beaded, knobbed, or ridged. The largest species of turban shell is the 20-centimetre (8-inch) green turban (Turbo marmoratus), native to the East Indies and Australia; its broad, round “cat's-eye” operculum (lid for closing the aperture) is used for making buttons.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

  
Share  

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Turban-shell — Tur ban shell , n. (Zo[ o]l.) A sea urchin when deprived of its spines; popularly so called from a fancied resemblance to a turban. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • shell collecting — ▪ hobby       practice of finding and usually identifying the shells of mollusks, a popular avocation, or hobby, in many parts of the world. These shells, because of their bright colours, rich variety of shapes and designs, and abundance along… …   Universalium

  • Gastropod shell — [ 1 umbilicus2 parietal callus3 aperture4 columella5 suture6 whorl7 apex] The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail. It is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment,… …   Wikipedia

  • Miter shell — Miter Mi ter, Mitre Mi tre, n. [F. mitre, fr. L. mitra headband, turban, Gr. ?.] 1. A covering for the head, worn on solemn occasions by bishops and other church dignitaries. It has been made in many forms, the present form being a lofty cap with …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • SpongeBob SquarePants (season 1) — Spongebob Squarepants SpongeBob SquarePants Country of origin USA …   Wikipedia

  • gastropod — /gas treuh pod /, n. 1. any mollusk of the class Gastropoda, comprising the snails, whelks, slugs, etc. adj. 2. Also, gastropodous /ga strop euh deuhs/. belonging or pertaining to the gastropods. [1820 30; < NL Gast(e)ropoda a class of mollusks.… …   Universalium

  • Phasianella australis — Taxobox name = Australian Pheasant image caption = regnum = Animalia phylum = classis = Gastropoda ordo = Archaeogastropoda familia = Turbinidae genus = Phasianella species = P. australis binomial = Phasianella australis binomial authority =… …   Wikipedia

  • Garda Síochána — Infobox Law enforcement agency agencyname = Garda Síochána na hÉireann nativename = nativenamea = nativenamer = commonname = Garda Síochána abbreviation = patch = patchcaption = logo = logocaption = badge = Gardaí.jpg badgecaption = Badge of… …   Wikipedia

  • List of fashion topics — This is a list of topics related to fashion, many of which do not yet have Wikipedia articles. NOTOC 0 9 1300 1400 in fashion 1500 1550 in fashion 1600 1650 in fashion 1700 1750 in fashion 1795 1820 in fashion 20th century fashion A A line A line …   Wikipedia

  • Turbinidae — Three views of a shell of Turbo cornutus with the operculum in place Scientific classification Kingdom …   Wikipedia