Three hundred and five Phorcus turbinatus collected from the rocky littorals of Al-Haneah and Susah, eastern Libya’s Mediterranean Sea, were used to establish 15 measured shell-parameters and 18 calculated shell-shape indicators, which were then compared between sites, and related to shell height (HBA) and length of shell base (LB) by regression equations to find out how they vary as the animal grows. Al-Haneah P. turbinatus was larger than Susah’s (HBA = 13.729 and 12.818mm consecutively, corresponding to total weights (TW) of 3.766 and 3.179gm). As a result, the majority of Al-Haneah’s P. turbinatus measured parameters were of greater magnitude. The exponents “b” of the TW-HBA power regressions indicated negative allometric growth, while that of TW-LB indicated positive allometry. The values of the shell shape indicators of P. turbinatus in both sites were close, the shell apex was tilted to the front and to the left, the shell base was almost circular, the opening was slightly oval, and the operculum was circular. All the measured parameters, and most of the shell-shape indicators, increased with growth.
Citation: Adam Ali Faidallah, Ramadan A. S. Ali, Sayed Mohamed Ali, (2021) Morphology of Phorcus turbinatus (Gastropoda) in the Eastern Libyan Mediterranean Sea, International Research Journal of Natural Sciences, Vol.9, No.1, pp.12-18
Keywords: Mediterranean Sea, Monodonta turbinata, Phorcus turbinatus, morphometry, shell shape
