Sericominolia stearnsii
Source-cited species reference: taxonomy from WoRMS, biology from SeaLifeBase, occurrence map from GBIF, description from Wikipedia.
Ethminolia stearnsii is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Trochidae, the top snails.
- Scientific name
- Sericominolia stearnsii
- Authority
- (Pilsbry, 1895)
- Family
- Trochidae
- Order
- Trochida
- Habitat zone
- demersal
- Gbif occurrence records
- 81
Classification (WoRMS)
Full classification as recorded by WoRMS: Kingdom: Animalia · Phylum: Mollusca · Class: Gastropoda · Order: Trochida · Family: Trochidae · Genus: Sericominolia.
Accepted name: Sericominolia stearnsii · Authority: (Pilsbry, 1895) · Taxonomic status: accepted · AphiaID: 547292.
Synonyms and superseded combinations recorded for this taxon: Ethminolia stearnsii (Pilsbry, 1895); Minolia stearnsii Pilsbry, 1895; Solariella stearnsi (Pilsbry, 1895).
Source: World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=547292 (CC BY 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.
Biology and life history (SeaLifeBase)
Measured values published by SeaLifeBase for Sericominolia stearnsii. Only fields the database actually holds for this species are shown; these are database values, not aquarium guidance.
Habitat zone: demersal.
Source: SeaLifeBase species summary (SpecCode 105319) — https://www.sealifebase.se/summary/Sericominolia-stearnsii.html (CC BY-NC 3.0 — non-commercial use only). Accessed 2026-09-23.
Distribution and occurrence records (GBIF)
81 georeferenced occurrence records for Sericominolia stearnsii are published through GBIF from 6 countries or marine areas. The map above plots 18 distinct locations from a sample of 81 records, omitting 11 inland records that carry an institution's coordinates rather than a collection site; it shows where the species has been observed and reported, not a modelled range.
Most records by country or area: South Africa (30); Japan (29); Philippines (9); French Polynesia (7); Korea, Republic of (5); Réunion (1).
Source: GBIF Occurrence Search (taxonKey 6514526) — https://www.gbif.org/occurrence/search?taxon_key=6514526&has_coordinate=true (records CC0 / CC BY); WoRMS distribution records (MarineRegions) — https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=547292 (CC BY 4.0); Natural Earth 110m basemap — https://www.naturalearthdata.com/ (public domain). Accessed 2026-09-23.
Description and natural history (Wikipedia)
The shell of an adult varies between 3.5 mm and 10 mm. The shell is more depressed than Ethminolia vitiliginea (Menke, 1843). It is thin, shining and widely umbilicate. Its color pattern is densely and finely radially vermiculate with olivaceous on a pale ground above, usually with few or many radial dark clouds below the suture, and several narrow articulated, spaced spiral lines. The periphery is lighter, often spotted. The base of the shell shows a paler vermiculate and articulated pattern. The surface is closely and evenly sculptured with spiral striae throughout, with inconspicuous rather spaced oblique impressed lines, and between them very faint, close growth-striae which slightly crenulate the spirals. The five whorls are very convex, rather flattened below the sutures, and produce a blunt median angle on the whorls of the spire. The body whorl is subangular at the periphery and around the umbilicus. The latter is funnel-shaped, one-fourth the total diameter of the shell, white within and with distinct growth lines. The oblique aperture is roundly subquadrate. The columella is slightly dilated above, straight in the middle, and bluntly angular at base.
This species occurs in the Pacific Ocean off the Philippines and Japan.
Source: Wikipedia: Ethminolia stearnsii — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethminolia_stearnsii (CC BY-SA 4.0). Accessed 2026-09-23.
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