Architectonica maxima
Species of gastropod
title: "Architectonica maxima" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["architectonica", "molluscs-of-the-indian-ocean", "molluscs-of-the-pacific-ocean", "gastropods-described-in-1849", "taxa-named-by-rodolfo-amando-philippi"] description: "Species of gastropod" topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectonica_maxima" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Species of gastropod ::
| image = Architectonicidae - Architectonica maxima.JPG | image_caption = Shell of Architectonica maxima from Japan at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano | taxon = Architectonica maxima | authority = (Philippi, 1849) | synonyms =
- Solarium maximum Philippi, 1849
Architectonica maxima, the giant sundial, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Architectonicidae, which are known as the staircase shells or sundials.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Architectonica_maxima_01.JPG" caption="Shells of ''Architectonica maxima''"] ::
Description
Architectonica maxima has a shell that reaches 19–82 mm and it is the largest member of the sundial family. This shell is low-spired and quite flattened, with a beaded surface. The shoulder slope is divided into two ribs by a spiral groove. The basic color is cream, with brown spots.
(Original description in Latin) The low-conical shell is radiately grooved, at first slightly granular. It is grayish-tawny in color. The whorls show three grooves. The sutures are broadly channeled and bordered by a sutural band that is articulated with white and chestnut-brown markings. The band below the suture is unspotted and of the same color as the rest of the shell. The lowest band of the body whorl, and the broad band of the penultimate whorl are articulated with chestnut markings that equal in breadth the single-threaded space between them. The umbilicus occupies three-fourths of the diameter exceeding the body whorl, and is encircled by small whitish crenulations.
Distribution
This species can be found in the Indo-Pacific, from East Africa and the Persian Gulf to western Pacific, Japan, eastern Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia and Hawaii.
Habitat
Giant sundial is a carnivore deeper water sea snail living on sandy patches and muddy sublittoral bottoms, close to soft corals, at a depth of 10 – 280 m.
References
- Bieler, R. (1993). Architectonicidae of the Indo-Pacific (Mollusca, Gastropoda). Abhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg. NF. 30: 1-376.
- Spencer, H.G., Marshall, B.A. & Willan, R.C. (2009). Checklist of New Zealand living Mollusca. Pp 196-219. in: Gordon, D.P. (ed.) New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume one. Kingdom Animalia: Radiata, Lophotrochozoa, Deuterostomia. Canterbury University Press, Christchurch.
- Liu, J.Y. [Ruiyu] (ed.). (2008). [Checklist of marine biota of China seas]. China Science Press. 1267 pp.
References
- "''Architectonica maxima'' (R. A. Philippi, 1849)".
- "''Architectonica (Maxima-group) maxima''".
- (1849). "Centuria tertia testaceorum novorum.". Zeitschrift für Malakozoologie.
- [http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Architectonica+maxima&mobile=close&flags=glean: Discover Life]
- [https://archive.today/20130219194006/http://www.sealifebase.fisheries.ubc.ca/summary/speciessummary.php?id=87077 Sealifebase]
- Poutiers, J. M.. (1998). "''The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific Volume 1.'' Seaweeds, corals, bivalves and gastropods". FAO.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::