''Eucithara dealbata'' is a small

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 Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

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 11 mm, its diameter 4 mm. The shell has a fusiform shape, ovally elongated, acuminate at both ends, with turriculated

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. The rather thickened shell has a translucent crystal white color, when fresh. Longitudinal ribs originate at the suture. They are rather thin and high. These ribs (numbering 11 on the penultimate whorl), are frail, rounded. Fine and close striae (best seen under a magnifying glass) are distributed over the whole shell The relatively high shell consists of 8 whorls, separated by a sinuate suture. The 3 embryonic whorls in the protoconch are rounded, polished and brilliant. The next whorls are angular in their upper part. 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 ...

measures about half the total length of the shell. Obtusely angular at the top, it offers a convex acuminate profile up to the base of the shell where it undergoes a slight compression. 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, slightly reversed and recurved to the side of the outer lip. The aperture which does not reach half the total height is slightly oblique and narrowly suboval; The peristome is continuous. The columella is entirely smooth and is coated with a light enamel that thickens at the junction of the outer lip Slightly angular towards the suture, the outer lip, seen from the front, has a regular convex profile. In the plane of the aperture it is arched and slightly flexuous. Strongly thickened on the last rib, it has a crenate and sharp lip, and its interior is completely smooth. The sinus, located a little below the suture, is narrow, deeply seated in the apertural aileron, almost perpendicularly at the aperture.Hervier, J. 1898. ''Descriptions d'espèces nouvelles de Mollusques provenant de l'Archipel de la Nouvelle-Calédonie.'' Journal de Conchyliologie 45: 165-195, 249-266, pls 7-8
described as ''Mangilia dealbata'' )

Distribution

This marine species occurs off

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

and the Loyalty Islands

References

* Bouge, L.J. & Dautzenberg, P.L. 1914. ''Les Pleurotomides de la Nouvelle-Caledonie et de ses dependances.'' Journal de Conchyliologie 61: 123-214

External links

Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1-1295.
*
Virginie, et al. "Mollusca of New Caledonia." Compendium of marine species of New Caledonia. Documents Scientifiques et Techniques II7, 2nd edn. IRD, Nouméa (2007): 199-254

Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris : ''Mangilia dealbata''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q30681716 dealbata Gastropods described in 1897