''Aforia kincaidi'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

sea snail Sea snail is a common name for slow-moving marine gastropod molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguished from snails primarily by the ...

, a marine

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Cochlespiridae Cochlespiridae is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. This family is not well differentiated morphologically, and there is poor congruence betwe ...

Description

The height of the shell attains 29 mm, its diameter 13 mm. (Original description) The waxen white shell is of moderate size and has a fusiform shape. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

is acute. The

siphonal canal The siphonal canal is an anatomical feature of the shells of certain groups of sea snails within the clade Neogastropoda. Some sea marine gastropods have a soft tubular anterior extension of the mantle called a siphon through which water is ...

is elongated. The

protoconch A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also called ...

consists of two smooth bulbous

whorl A whorl ( or ) is an individual circle, oval, volution or equivalent in a whorled pattern, which consists of a spiral or multiple concentric objects (including circles, ovals and arcs). Whorls in nature File:Photograph and axial plane floral ...

s with five subsequent whorls. The axial

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

shows only faint incremental lines. The spiral sculpture includes a very prominent thin sharp peripheral keel and fine spiral striae with wider interspaces, over most of the surface. The interspaces become more rounded and coarser on the base. The entire space between the keel and the preceding suture may be said to form the anal fasciole, the wide arcuate sulcus being situated a little way in front of the suture. The base of the shell is neatly rounded and contracted at the beginning of the siphonal canal. The outer lip is thin, sharp and much produced in front. The inner lip is slightly erased. The columella is obliquely attenuated in front, gyrate, and with a minutely pervious axis. The siphonal canal is narrow and slender. The operculum is yellowish, ovate and has an apical nucleus.United States National Museum, and William Healey Dall. ''Descriptions of new species of Mollusca from the North Pacific Ocean in the collection of the United States National Museum''. 1919
(described as ''Leucosyrinx kincaidi'')

Distribution

This marine species occurs off

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

References

* Abbott R. T. (1974). ''American seashells. The marine Mollusca of the Atlantic and Pacific coast of North America.'' ed. 2. Van Nostrand, New York. 663 pp., 24 pls.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aforia Kincaidi kincaidi Taxa named by William Healey Dall Gastropods described in 1919