{{Short description|Species of gastropod}} {{Speciesbox | taxon = Bela nebula | name = Nebular needle conch | image = Bela nebula 003.jpg | image_caption = Shell of ''Bela nebula'' (specimen at the Smithsonian Institution) | authority = ([[George Montagu (naturalist)|Montagu]], 1803) | synonyms_ref = <ref name="WoRMS" /> | synonyms = * ''Bela aegeensis'' <small>(Reeve, 1844)</small> <ref name="Turkey">[http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/zoology/issues/zoo-05-29-2/zoo-29-2-1-0403-1.pdf B. Otztürk, ''Comments on Shells of Mollusca collected from the Seas of Turkey'', Turk J Zool, 29, pp. 111-112, 2005] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117130707/http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/zoology/issues/zoo-05-29-2/zoo-29-2-1-0403-1.pdf |date=November 17, 2010 }}; accessed : 20 February 2011</ref> * ''Bela ginniana'' <small>([[Antoine Risso|Risso]], 1826)</small> <ref name="Turkey" /> * ''Bela nebula vittata'' <small>Norman, A.M., 1899</small> * ''Bela septenvillei'' <small>(Dautzenberg & Durouchoux, 1913)</small> * ''Bela (Ischnula) nebula'' <small>(Montagu, 1803)</small> * ''Buccinum steveni'' <small>Krynicky, 1837</small> (dubious synonym) * ''Fusus discrepans'' <small>Brown, C.T., 1827</small> * ''Fusus pyramidatus'' <small>Brown, C.T., 1827</small> * ''Mangelia (Bela) nebula'' <small>([[George Montagu (naturalist)|Montagu]])</small> * ''Mangelia nebula'' <small>(Montagu, 1803)</small> * ''Mangelia nebula'' var. ''lactea'' <small>Jeffreys, 1867</small> * ''Murex nebula'' <small>[[George Montagu (naturalist)|Montagu]], 1803</small> (original combination) * ''Pleurotoma metcalfei'' <small>Petit de la Saussaye, S., 1869</small> * ''Pleurotoma nebula'' <small>(Montagu, 1803)</small> * ''Pleurotoma nebula'' var. ''abbreviata'' <small>Jeffreys, 1867</small> * ''Pleurotoma nebula'' var. ''elongata'' <small>Jeffreys, 1867</small> * ''Pleurotoma nebula var. abbreviata'' <small>(Montagu, 1803)</small> * ''Pleurotoma nebula var. minor'' <small>Jeffreys, 1867</small> * ''Pleurotoma nigra'' <small>Potiez, V.L.V., 1838</small> * ''Raphitoma affine'' <small>Locard, E.A.A., 1891</small> * ''Raphitoma nebula'' <small>(Montagu, 1803)</small> * ''Raphitoma nebula'' var. ''septenvillei'' <small>Dautzenberg, 1913</small> * ''Raphitoma septenvillei'' <small>Dautzenberg & Durouchoux, 1913</small> | display_parents = 3 }}

'''''Bela nebula''''', also known as the nebular needle [[conch]] is a species of [[sea snail]], a marine [[gastropod]] [[mollusk]] in the [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Mangeliidae]].<ref name="WoRMS">{{WRMS species|139217|''Bela nebula'' ([[George Montagu (naturalist)|Montagu]], 1803)||8 August 2011}}</ref> It is the [[type species]] of the genus ''Bela''.

==Taxonomy== ''Bela nebula'' forms probably a complex, to which ''Bela laevigata'' also belongs (Ankel 1936, Van Aartsen et al. 1984) <ref>Ankel, Wulf Emmo. Prosobranchia. Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft, 1936.</ref><ref>Aartsen, JJ van, H. P. M. G. Menkhorst, and E. Gittenberger. "The marine Mollusca of the Bay of Algeciras, Spain, with general notes on Mitrella, Marginellidae and Turridae." Basteria (ISSN 0005-6219)(Suppl. 2 (1984).</ref>

==Description== The shell size varies between 5&nbsp;mm and 14&nbsp;mm, characteristic of the ''Bela'' genus, with three or four initially smooth [[protoconch]] [[Whorl (mollusc)|whorls]], except for the last, which features low, curved axial riblets overrun by a few rows of obsolete spiral elements, which form swollen tubercles at the intersection.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bela nebula (Montagu, 1803) |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/4369330 |access-date=2022-03-23 |website=www.gbif.org |language=en}}</ref> The shell consists of eight or nine tumid whorls, with deep sutures. The subsutural band is often beaded. The shell shows strong, slightly curved ribs and narrow, spiral ridges and growth lines. The numerous ridges are finely beaded. The subsutural band is slightly swollen. The [[Aperture (mollusc)|aperture]] of the shell is lanceolate and elongated, with a thin outer [[Lip (gastropod)|lip]] that becomes angular where it meets the [[body whorl]]. There is an anal sinus and a short, wide [[siphonal canal]]. <ref>P.J. Hayward and J.S. Ryland - Handbook of the Marine Fauna of North-West Europe; Oxford University Press 1995; ISBN 0 19 854054 X</ref>

The colour of the shell is variable and goes from white to yellowish brown and orange.

The species breeds in spring and summer, depositing eggs in lenticular capsules.

==Distribution== This species occurs on sand and muddy gravel bottoms in European waters off [[Belgium]] and the [[British Isles]], in the Northeast [[Atlantic Ocean]] off [[Norway]], in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] off [[Spain]], [[Portugal]], the [[Azores]] and [[Madeira]] and in the [[Mediterranean Sea]]

==References== {{Reflist}} * Hayward, P.J.; Ryland, J.S. (Ed.) (1990). ''The marine fauna of the British Isles and North-West Europe: 1. Introduction and protozoans to arthropods''. Clarendon Press: Oxford, UK. {{ISBN|0-19-857356-1}}. 627 pp * de Kluijver, M.J.; Ingalsuo, S.S.; de Bruyne, R.H. (2000). ''Macrobenthos of the North Sea'' [CD-ROM]: 1. Keys to Mollusca and Brachiopoda. World Biodiversity Database CD-ROM Series. Expert Center for Taxonomic Identification (ETI): Amsterdam, the Netherlands. {{ISBN|3-540-14706-3}} * Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). ''Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification''. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp.&nbsp;180–213+ * Muller, Y. (2004). ''Faune et flore du littoral du Nord, du Pas-de-Calais et de la Belgique: inventaire. [Coastal fauna and flora of the Nord, Pas-de-Calais and Belgium: inventory].'' Commission Régionale de Biologie Région Nord Pas-de-Calais: France. 307 pp * Scarponi et al.: Lectotype designation for ''Murex nebula'' Montagu 1803 (Mangeliidae) and its implications for ''Bela'' Leach in Gray 1847, Zootaxa 2014

==External links== {{Commons category|Bela nebula}} * {{Gastropods.com|key=7|id=11187|title=''Bela nebula nebula''|access-date=20 February 2011}} * [http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2004f/z00682f.pdf Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1-1295.] * [https://science.mnhn.fr/institution/mnhn/collection/im/item/2013-57413?listIndex=29&listCount=64 MNHN, Paris : ''Bela nebula'']

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[[Category:Bela (gastropod)|nebula]] [[Category:Gastropods described in 1803]]