Monodonta

Monodonta is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Trochidae, the top snails. The genus Monodonta was first separated from the Linnaean genus Trochus by Lamarck in 1801 with Trochus labio Linnaeus, 1758 given as the type species. Labio is a junior homonym of Labio Oken, 1815, itself a synonym of Monodonta Lamarck, 1799 The very heavy, thick, solid shell has a turbinate-conic shape. The shell is smooth or spirally ridged. The outer lip is plicate within. The short, porcellanous columella is strong, cylindrical, bulging or more or less toothed near or at the base. Between this tooth and the basal margin there is a square notch or channel. The aperture is as high as wide. The species of this marine genus occurs over a wide area: Central and East Indian Ocean, Indo-China, Indo-Malaysian Oceania, the Philippines, Japan and Australia (Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia). Species within the genus Monodonta include: