Kiener's Coquilles (1873-1880)
Louis-Charles Kiener. Spécies général et iconographie des coquilles vivantes comprenant la collection du Muséum d'histoire naturelle de Paris, la collection Lamarck, celle du prince Masséna (appartenant maintenant a M.B. Delessert) et les découvertes récentes des voyageurs. Paris: J.B. Baillière, 1873-80.
Louis-Charles Kiener (1799-1881) published a 12 volume on extant (living) marine mollusks in the second half of the 19th century.
The illustration presented here is that of a sundial snail. It was known to Kiener as Solarium perspectivum, but it now bears the genus name of Architectonica. The upper figure shows the animal fully extended and the opericulum on the rear end of its foot; the hardened operculum closes the aperature when the snail is fully withdrawn into its shell.
This is a widely distributed snail whose range extends from Madagascar east to at least the Philippines.