''Crassispira turricula'', common name the turriculated pleurotoma, 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 ...

Pseudomelatomidae Pseudomelatomidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropods included in the superfamily Conoidea (previously Conacea) and part of the Neogastropoda ( Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). In 1995 Kantor elevated the subfamily Pseudomelatomina ...

Description

The length of the shell varies between 21 mm and 45 mm. (Original description) The brown shell is sharply pyramidal. 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 is tuberculated. The tubercles are arranged in a single row. The lower part of the whorls is longitudinally ribbed, the ribs decussated. The interior of the

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

is blackish purple. 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. Conchologia iconica, or, Illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals; Reeve, Lovell, Brooks, Vincent, Reeve, Frederic, Sowerby, G. B. (George Brettingham), Taylor, John Edward, Reeve Benham & Reeve, Savill, Edwards and Co., Spottiswoode & Co. Vincent Brooks, Day & Son, ; vol.1 (1843)

Distribution

This marine species occurs from

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, Mexico to

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

References

* G.B. Sowerby I, Proc. Zool. Soc, 1833, p. 137 * Reeve, Conch. Syst., vol. ii. pi. 233. f. 6. * Fallon P.J. (2011) ''Descriptions and illustrations of some new and poorly known turrids (Gastropoda: Turridae) of the tropical northwestern Atlantic. Part 3. Genus Crassispira Swainson, 1840, subgenus Crassiclava McLean, 1971''. The Nautilus 125(2): 53-62. 0 June 2011

External links

W.H. Dall (1909), Report on the collection of shells from Peru ;Proceedings of the United States National Museum, Vol. 37, pages 147-294, with Plates 20—28
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crassispira Turricula turricula Gastropods described in 1834