''Cochlespira elegans'', common name the elegant star turrid, 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 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 size of an adult shell varies between 35 mm and 60 mm.
The white shell is acutely tapering before and behind. The long and straight
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 ...
has about the same length as the spire. There are nine
whorls
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 d ...
of which two are embryonic. The
aperture is very long and narrow. The anterior surface of the whorls are everywhere sculptured with even uniform spiral rows of rounded nodules, beautifully reticulated by the lines of growth. One row about the middle of the whorl is slightly elevated above the others. The carina is fringed with delicate triangular points. The posterior surface of the whorls, except for lines of growth, is smooth, with one row of nodules just inside the carina. The
columella is not thickened, but somewhat twisted anteriorly. The
outer lip is sharply angulated by the carina.
[ George Washington Tryon, Manual of Conchology vol. VI, p. 176; 1884 (described as ''Ancistrosyrinx elegans'')]
Distribution
This species occurs in the
Caribbean Sea, the
Gulf of Mexico and the
Greater Antilles.
The light brown shell illustrated here was recovered via Johnson Sea-Link II submersible operating at 300–400 metres depth, off West coast Barbados, Lesser Antilles.
References
Rosenberg, G., F. Moretzsohn, and E. F. García. 2009. ''Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico'', pp. 579–699 in Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Biodiversity. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3141295
elegans
Taxa named by William Healey Dall