About Clanculus cruciatus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Clanculus cruciatus (Linnaeus, 1758) has a shell that ranges in size between 6 mm and 10 mm. The narrowly umbilicate shell has a globose-conic shape, with a conic spire and an acute apex. Shell coloration can be pinkish, dark brown, blackish, or pink; it features radiating white patches below the sutures, and white dots around the center of the shell's base. The shell has 5 to 6 convex whorls, separated by canaliculate sutures, and marked with spiral granose lirae. The body whorl is rounded, and encircled by approximately 13 lirae. The lirae above the periphery are granulose, around the same width as the interstices between them, while the lirae beneath the periphery are more widely separated and smoother. The interstices between the lirae bear fine spiral striae. The base of the shell is convex. The oblique aperture is subcircular. The outer and basal lips are rounded and finely crenulate on the inner surface. The columella is slightly concave, with a small denticle at its base and another small denticle above near its insertion. The parietal wall is nearly smooth. The deep umbilicus is narrow, smooth, and white on the inside. It is bordered by a strong marginal rib that may be smooth or indistinctly crenulated, and surrounded by a narrow tract of white tissue. This species is found in the Mediterranean Sea.
