''Fenimorea fucata'' 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 ...

mollusc 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 esti ...

in the family

Drilliidae The Drilliidae are a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of small predatory sea snails with high-spired shells. They are classified as marine (ocean), marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. This family has no s ...

Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 10 mm and 27 mm. The shell is obsoletely channeled above the periphery which is not prominently angulated. The longitudinal ribs are numerous, rounded, not prominent, not interrupted on the periphery but continuous to the suture. The shell is sometimes obsoletely spirally striated. The back of 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 ...

has a peculiar hump or longitudinal varix. The shell is yellowish white, banded and maculated with yellowish or orange-brown.

Distribution

This species occurs in the

benthic zone The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning " ...

of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Lesser Antilles and Puerto Rico; in the Atlantic Ocean from the Bahamas to Brazil at depths between 6 mm and 45 m. This species was also found as a fossil in the strata of the

Caloosahatchee Formation The Caloosahatchee Formation is a geologic formation in Florida. It preserves fossils dating back to the Pleistocene. See also * List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Florida See also * Paleontology in Florida References * {{D ...

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

of Florida at North St PetersburgFossilworks: Fenimorea fucata
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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

Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1–1295
* Coomans, H. E. "Studies on the Fauna of Curaçao and other Caribbean Islands: nr. 72

External links

*
De Jong K.M. & Coomans H.E. (1988) Marine gastropods from Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire. Leiden: E.J. Brill. 261 pp.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenimorea Fucata fucata Gastropods described in 1845