Predator in the rocky upper infralittoral.
Locally sympatric with A. gaillardoti.
Original taxon: Buccinum dorbignyi.
Above: crabbed specimens of dorbignyi (orange) and gaillardoti (brown) found on shallow rocks near the prehistoric harbour of Falasarna, W. Crete. 14-19mm.
35-40m deep, in Alger bay, Algeria. 19,5mm.
On the breakwater, Playa de la Almadraba, west of Dénia, Alicante Province, Comunidad Valenciana, SE. Spain. Original picture provided by K. Schulz for iNaturalist – (CC BY).
The pale spiral band and the two rows of nodules at the periphery are constant. The remaining (other nodules, background colour) can vary. – Above, an almost smooth shell, which can be related to dorbignyi, collected at 1m deep, under rock, Nebida, Carbonia-Iglesias, SW. Sardinia. 18mm.
Ionian Sea to Eastern Mediterranean, Aegean. « The B. gaillardoti has some relationship with the B. Dorbignyi: its longitudinal costae are less elevated and therefore less knobby at the intersections of the transversal striae, which are of inequal strength; the aperture is larger, the canal shorter and less raised, the umbilical slit barely visible. Its colour is of a uniform red-brown; the aperture purple-brown, reddish on the edges. » – E. Puton: “Lettre au docteur Mougeot sur les Mollusques de Syrie”, Annales de la Société d’Émulation du Département des Vosges vol. IX (1), Épinal 1856, p.224-225.
Dark specimen collected on shallow reef at Ormos Point, north of Agios Nikolaos, Lasithi, N. Crete. 14mm.
Dedicated to M. Gaillardot; « this is a tribute I am pleased to give him: the natural history of Syria, which owes so much to him, will confirm it. » – Ibid.
Under rocks, Ayía Nápa, Famagousta, E. Cyprus. 11mm.
