''Fusiturricula fusinella'' 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 ...

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 ...

.Bouchet, P. (2015). Fusiturricula fusinella (Dall, 1908). In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=578783 on 2016-10-03

Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 17 mm and 60 mm. (Original description) The small, slender, delicate shell is white with a faint suffusion toward the periphery of pale pinkish. It contains ten or more

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

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 acute, a little shorter than 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 ...

. The protoconch consists of three elevated whorls, milk-white, glassy, smooth, abruptly changing to the adult type of

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. The fifth whorl shows seven, the ninth with ten, short axial ribs, chiefly visible on the periphery, crossed by two strong spiral cords, more or less turgid at the intersections. The whorl above these cords is somewhat excavated with a nearly smooth surface except for lines of growth and three or four spiral threads, more distinct and numerous on the later whorls. The base is bordered by a prominent cord on which the suture is laid, giving the effect of a presutural ridge just behind the anal fasciole. On the base there are about 20 more cords with a tendency to alternate in size. The whole surface has minute spiral striae and lines of growth which form a microscopic reticulation only visible with a good lens. The

is rounded. 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 long and slender. The body is polished and the sculpture eroded. The columella is white, callous, obliquely truncate in front, slightly twisted and impervious. The outer lip is thin, simple. The

anal sulcus The anal sulcus, also called the anal sinus or anal canal, in Gastropods is a notch, a shelly tube at the top of the aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and fo ...

is wide and shallow.W.H. Dall (1908): Reports on the Dredging Operations off the West Coast of Central America to the Galapagos, to the West Coast of Mexico, and in the Gulf of California, in charge of Alexander Agassiz, carried on by the U. S. Fish Commission Steamer "Albatross," during 1891, Lieut. Commander Z. L. Tanner, U. S. N., Commanding. XXX VII. Reports on the Scientific Results of the Expedition to the Eastern Tropical Pacific, in charge of Alexander Agassiz, by the U. S. Fish Commission Steamer "Albatross," from October, 1904, to March, 1905, Lieut. Commander L. M. Garrett, U. S. N., Commanding. XIV. The Mollusca and the Brachiopoda; Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard v. 43 p. 275 (1904)
/ref>

Distribution

This species occurs in the demersal zone of the Eastern Pacific Ocean off the Galapagos Islands and from the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California ( es, Golfo de California), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Bermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja Ca ...

, Western Mexico, to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

References

Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1–1295
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fusiturricula Fusinella fusinella Gastropods described in 1908