''Finella pupoides'' 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 ...

of 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

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 ...

Scaliolidae Scaliolidae, common name scaliolids,Strong E. E., Colgan D. J., Healy J. M., Lydeard C., Ponder W. F. & Glaubrecht M. (2011). "Phylogeny of the gastropod superfamily Cerithioidea using morphology and molecules". ''Zoological Journal of the Linnea ...

Description

The shell size varies between 2 mm and 4 mm. Its color varies from white to pale yellow, a few times even dark brown. The shell shows typically two indistinct brown bands below the suture and at the base. The shell is elongate, fusiform with a narrow, pointed apex. This protoconch is smooth and contains about 2.5

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 ...

. The whorls are rather inflated and have deeply marked sutures. The sculpture of the teleoconch has characteristic flat-topped spiral cords with rather weak axial ribs. These form a fine reticulate pattern on the upper whorls. This axial sculpture is reduced to absent on 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 ...

. 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 semicircular. The narrow columella is curved. Hasegawa K., 1998. A review of recent Japanese species previously assigned to ''Eufenella'' and ''Clathrofenella'' (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Cerithioidea). Memoirs of the National Science Museum (Tokyo) 31: 165-186
accessed : 24 November 2010

Distribution

This species occurs in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

along

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

and in the Pacific Ocean in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

; and as non-indigenous marine species through the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...

in European waters and 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 ...

Habitat

This species is found in sand or on mud in the

sublittoral zone The neritic zone (or sublittoral zone) is the relatively shallow part of the ocean above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately in depth. From the point of view of marine biology it forms a relatively stable and well-illuminated ...

of bays at a depth of 10 m. Live species are rare and this species can be regarded as an endangered species.

References

Adams A. (1860) ''On some new genera and species of Mollusca from Japan''. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, (3)5: 299-303
* Dautzenberg, Ph. (1929). ''Contribution à l'étude de la faune de Madagascar: Mollusca marina testacea. Faune des colonies françaises, III(fasc. 4).'' Société d'Editions géographiques, maritimes et coloniales: Paris. 321-636, plates IV-VII pp. * Laseron C.F. (1956) ''The families Rissoinidae and Rissoidae (Mollusca) from the Solanderian and Dampierian zoogeographical provinces''. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 7(3): 384-484. ctober 1956page(s): 463 * Hasegawa K. (1998) ''A review of Recent Japanese species previously assigned to Eufenella and Clathrofenella (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Cerithioidea).'' Memoiurs of the National Science Museum, Tokyo 31: 165-186 * 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 * Streftaris, N.; Zenetos, A.; Papathanassiou, E. (2005). ''Globalisation in marine ecosystems: the story of non-indigenous marine species across European seas.'' Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Annu. Rev. 43: 419-453

External links

Melvill J.C. & Standen R. (1896) ''Notes on a collection of shells from Lifu and Uvea, Loyalty Islands, formed by the Rev. James and Mrs. Hadfield, with list of species. Part II.'' Journal of Conchology 8: 273-315, page(s): 309, pl. 11 fig. 69
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3167843 Scaliolidae Gastropods described in 1860