About Steromphala varia (Linnaeus, 1758)
The shell of Steromphala varia grows between 8 mm and 15 mm in size. This solid, umbilicate shell has a conical shape. Its base color is dull, lusterless yellowish white or pinkish, with flexuous radiating ash-gray or violet stripes below the suture. The entire surface is finely mottled and dotted with yellowish, violet, and white coloring. The short spire is conical, and is not acuminate like the spires of Gibbula ardens and Gibbula umbilicaris. There are approximately six flattened whorls, separated by slightly impressed sutures. The whorls are encircled by numerous fine striae. The body whorl is obtusely angular at its periphery. The large aperture is very oblique and smooth on the interior. The oblique columella is straightened. The umbilicus is funnel-shaped and whitish on the inside. This species acts as a host to two ectoparasites: Trochicola entericus Dollfus, 1914 and Lichomolgus trochi Canu, 1899. This species is distributed in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal.
