Relevant Synonyms Bulla girardi Audouin, 1826 Ventomnestia girardi Audouin [Mienis, 1976] Misidentification -  photo: G. Buzzuro - E. Greppi

SHORT DESCRIPTION Shell thin, slender, elongated oval, sculptured with spiral striations. Aperture narrow posteriorly and dilated anteriorly, projecting beyond the apex and base. Outer lip thin, folded above apex and raising from its centre. Columella sinuous, slightly plicate, and reflected over a small umbilicus. The soft parts are unknown, but the animal in other species of this genus is similar to that described for Acteocina. color : fulvous or yellowish, encircled by one or two pale brown bands. There is also sometimes a wide white band. common size : 2.5-3 mm, max. 5 mm. DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS A distinctive pale band over a brownish or a yellowish ground body color clearly differentiates this species from other similar Mediterranean species of the genera Cylichna and Cylichnina. Juveniles of the native Bulla striata are similar, but have a more difuminated color pattern, not a definite spiral band. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Unknown. Other species of the family feed upon foraminiferans or minute molluscs. habitat : in the Mediterranean, Cylichnina girardi has been found in shallow sandy bottoms among Posidonia oceanica meadows and lagoons.

1st Mediterranean record Bardawil lagoon, Egypt, 1976 [1974]. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide: Widespread in the Indo-Pacific; recorded in the Suez Canal (Moazzo, 1939). Mediterranean: recorded first in 1974 from Bardawil lagoon, Egypt (Mienis, 1976e); successive records from Lebanon (Bogi and Khairallah, 1987); southern Turkey (Tringali and Villa, 1990); Aegean coast of Turkey (Buzzurro and Greppi, 1996); Cyprus (Cecalupo and Quadri, 1996); Crete (Cosenza and Fasulo, 1997). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Common in the eastern Basin. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Via the Suez Canal. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Bogi C. and Khairallah N.H., 1987. Nota su alcuni molluschi de provenienza Indo-Pacifica raccolti nella baia di Jounieh (Libano) - Contributo I. Notiziario del CISMA, 10: 54-60. Buzzurro G. and Greppi E., 1996. The lessepsian molluscs of Tasuçu (South East Turkey). La Conchiglia, 279(suppl.): 3-22 (n°280, errata p.4). Cosenza G. and Fasulo G., 1997. The littoral shelled mollusks of the Island of Crete. La Conchiglia, 284: 51-58.   Mienis H.K., 1976e. Ventomnestia girardi (Audouin, 1927) from the Mediterranean. Conchiglie, 12(9-10): 209-210. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

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