Aesopus obesus, common name the fat dovesnail, is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Columbellidae, the dove snails.
Description The size of an adult shell varies between 5 mm and 14 mm.
(Original description in Latin) The smooth shell is obese and awl-shaped. It is white, adorned with pale longitudinal brown spots. It features a few subrounded whorls, with the body whorl biseriately spotted. The spire is obsoletely folded. The aperture is oblong, and the columella is truncated. Hinds, R. B. (1844). Descriptions of new shells, collected during the voyage of the Sulphur, and in Mr. Cuming's late visit to the Philippines. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. (1844) 11: 149–168.
(Described as Columbella acus) The shell is narrowly elongated. It features minutely ribbed longitudinal patterns towards the apex. Its color is yellowish, irregularly streaked with orange-brown. The whorls are rather flattened. The aperture is very small, and the columella is slightly excavated and truncated. The outer lip is simple and scarcely denticulated within. Reeve, L. A. (1858–1859). Monograph of the Genus Columbella. In: Conchologia Iconica, or, illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals, vol. 11, pl. 1-37 and unpaginated text. L. Reeve & Co., London.
Distribution This species occurs in the Caribbean Sea and the Lesser Antilles; in the Pacific Ocean from Colombia to Argentina in the Atlantic Ocean.
References
Monsecour K. & Monsecour D. (2007) The Aesopus (Lavesopus) spiculus species complex in the tropical Indo-Pacific (Mollusca, Caenogastropoda, Columbellidae). Visaya 2(2): 57–61. [November 2007] Monsecour K. (2010). Checklist of Columbellidae
External links Reeve, L. A. (1860-1861). Monograph of the genus Terebra. In: Conchologia Iconica, or, illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals, vol. 12, pl. 1-27 and unpaginated text. L. Reeve & Co., London.
Dall, W. H. (1912). New Californian Mollusca. The Nautilus. 25(11): 127-129