''Austrodrillia albobalteata'' 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

Horaiclavidae Horaiclavidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. In 2011 this family was split off from the family Pseudomelatomidae (formerly the subfamily Crassispirinae McLean, 1971) by Bouchet P., Ka ...

.Rosenberg, G. (2015). Austrodrillia albobalteata (E. A. Smith, 1890). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=532423 on 2016-12-28 It was formerly included within the family

Turridae Turridae is a taxonomic family name for a number of predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. MolluscaBase (2018). Turridae H. Adams & A. Adams, 1853 (1838). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Specie ...

Description

The length of the shell attains 5 mm, its diameter 2 mm. This small, brownish shell has a fusiform-ovate shape. It 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, including two convex whorls in 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 ...

. It shows 10-12 ribs, Their superior part is almost obsolete and they are almost indistinctly subnodose at the sutures. The oval aperture is small. The outer lip is sharp, slightly ascending at the suture. There is a white band on 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 ...

. It is subdivided by a fine line of the same colour as the rest of the shell. A few wavy darker brown lines flow down the lower portion of the body whorl.Smith E.A. (1890). ''Report on the marine molluscan fauna of the island of St. Helena''. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1890: 247-317, pl. 21-2
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Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Atlantic Ocean off St. Helena.

References

External links

Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1-1295
{{DEFAULTSORT:Austrodrillia Albobalteata albobalteata