''Asperdaphne perplexa'' is a species of

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 in the family

Raphitomidae Raphitomidae is a family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.) (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". '' Malacologia'' 47(1-2). . 3 ...

Description

The length of the shell attains 6.3 mm, its diameter 2.2 mm. (Original description) The delicate shell is elongate-oval and contains 6

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. 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 convex whorls, each with ten valid spiral lirae. The apex is blunt, ending abruptly, with the first spire-whorl issuing from within it. There are four spire-whorls, convex, with linear sutures. The

body whorl The body whorl is part of the morphology of the shell in those gastropod mollusks that possess a coiled shell. The term is also sometimes used in a similar way to describe the shell of a cephalopod mollusk. In gastropods In gastropods, the b ...

is much longer than the spire, gradually contracting at the base. The aperture is oblique and is elongate-oval. 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 short, wide, open, deviated slightly to the left. The columella is straight, forming an obtuse angle with the inner lip, which is distinct, complete, applied, and glazed. The outer lip has a finely crenulated border. In profile retrocurrent at the suture to form a shallow sinus, then uniformly curved, convex, with a shallow excavation at the contracted base. The whole surface of the shell is sculptured with spiral lirae, six in the first whorl, twelve in the second, sixteen in the third, and fifty-two in the body whorl, granulated by very fine axial striae which granulate the sutural margin. The colour is somewhat mottled very light-brown, with spiral equidistant white hairlines, five in the penultimate, ten in the body whorl. Verco, J.C. 1909. ''Notes on South Australian marine Mollusca with descriptions of new species. Part XII; Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia v. 33 (1909)''
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asperdaphne Perplexa perplexa Gastropods described in 1909 Gastropods of Australia