''Fusiturris amianta'' 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 ...

mollusk in the family

Fusiturridae Fusiturridae is a family of small to medium-sized sea snails, 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 ...

. ;Subspecies: * ''Fusiturris amianta amianta'' (Dautzenberg, 1912) * ''Fusiturris amianta procera'' Bozzetti, 2015

Description

The size of an adult shell varies between 20 mm and 40 mm. (Translated from the French original description) The solid, shiny shell has an extended fusiform shape. The high, turreted spire consists of 11 almost flat

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 first one is missing). They show at their top an angular keel and at the bottom a large bead with obliquely lined nodules. They are limited at the top by clear decurrent striae. The nodular folds disappear on the third part of the penultimate whorl, and there exists no traceof them 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 surface is decorated with barely visible sigmoid growth lines. The body whorl occupies half the height tor of the shell. At its base is a long, barely notched

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 ...

. It shows below and on its back some fifteen furrows that fade gradually away. The oval aperture is elongated and angular at its top. The columella is almost perpendicular. It is barely twisted toward the base of the siphonal canal and topped with a thin, shiny callus. The outer lip is sinuated. The ground color of the shell is a white uniform ivory. Dautzenberg, Ph. - Mission Gruvel sur la còte occidentale d'Afrique; Paris :Masson et cie 1912
/ref> Fusiturris amianta procera 001

Distribution

This species occurs in the Atlantic Ocean off Gabon.

References

Bibliography

* Bernard, P.A. (Ed.) (1984).'' Coquillages du Gabon hells of Gabon'' Pierre A. Bernard: Libreville, Gabon. 140, 75 plates pp.

External links

*
MNHN, Paris: holotype
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fusiturris Amianta Gastropods described in 1912