''Dikoleps pruinosa'' is a minute

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 ...

Skeneidae The Skeneidae are a speciose family of minute to small marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Trochoidea.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2013). Skeneidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php ...

Description

(Original description by Chaster) The height of the shell attains 1 mm, its diameter 0.6 mm. The shell has a subglobose shape. It is whitish in colour, dull and frosted in appearance, owing to the entire surface being covered with very numerous, fine, close -set, flexuous striae following the direction of the lines of growth. On the umbilical area and adjoining part of the base there are also numerous, much stronger spiral lines, finely granulated by the striae just described. The 2½

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 are convex. The suture is very distinct though not deep. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

is a little raised. 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 nearly circular. The outer lip is thin, presenting two shallow sinuations, one at the periphery and one below. The umbilicus is rather large. The operculum like that of ''

Dikoleps nitens ''Dikoleps nitens'' is a minute species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Skeneidae. Description The size of the shell varies between 0.4 mm and 1.4 mm. Distribution This species occurs in European waters and in ...

''.Chaster G. W., 1896: ''Some new marine mollusca from Tangier''; Journal of Malacology 5: 1–4, pl. 1
/ref>

Distribution

This species occurs in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

References

;Notes ;Sources * Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). ''European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification''. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213

External links

* pruinosa Gastropods described in 1896 {{Trochoidea-stub