''Brachycythara brevis'' 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 Mangeliidae.

Description

The length of the shell attains 4 mm. (Original description) The short shell has a fusiform shape. Its color is orange or wax yellow, white along the upper part of the

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 and anteriorly. It shows very strong transverse ribs, about nine on each whorl, smooth on the summits, with unequal microscopic spiral elevated lines. 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 ...

is subacute. The spire has very convex outlines. It contains about six whorls, moderately convex or subangular, with a lightly impressed suture. The aperture is quite narrow. The outer lip is much thickened by the last rib. The sinus is rather large. 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 very short.Adams, C. B. 1850. Description of supposed new species of marine shells which inhabit Jamaica. Contributions to Conchology, 4: 56–68, 109–123
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Distribution

This marine species occurs in the Caribbean Sea off Jamaica and the Virgin Islands

References

* Clench & Turner, 1950. The Western Atlantic marine mollusks described by C. B. Adams.

External links

Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1–1295.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brachycythara Brevis brevis