''Ithycythara cymella'' 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 Mangeliidae.
Description
The length of the shell attains 20 mm.
(Original description) The long, slender shell has a subhyaline and polished aspect. It contains a small subglobular, vitreous, tilted
protoconch
A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also called ...
of1½ whorls, and 5½ subsequent
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. Its color is translucent, with a faint yellowish band in front of the suture, visible between the ribs, and two or three spiral series of faint spots on the ribs in front of the yellow 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 ...
, or all whitish. The spiral
sculpture consists of numerous fine impressed lines, strongest on the ribs of which they faintly crenulate the crests, and well marked on 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 ...
where the interspaces are slightly raised and rounded. The transverse sculpture consists of (on the body whorl ten) elevated ribs, not continuous from whorl to whorl, extending from suture to the siphonal canal. These are thin and slightly curved behind the periphery, a little swollen on the periphery and in front of it again diminishing. The suture is somewhat appressed, undulated by the ribs. The
aperture is long, narrow. The notch is rounded and not deep. The
varix
A varix (pl. varices) is an abnormally dilated vessel with a tortuous course. Varices usually occur in the venous system, but may also occur in arterial or lymphatic vessels.
Examples of varices include:
* Varicose veins, large tortuous veins usua ...
behind the outer
lip resembles a stronger rib. The thin outer lip is strongly arched forward. The siphonal canal is long and rather narrow. The inner lip is simple . The
columella is straight, obliquely trimmed off in front. The whorls are moderately rounded under the ribs.
Distribution
''I. cymella'' can be found in the
Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean waters, ranging from the western coast of
Florida to
Barbados.
[Tunnell, John W., Jr., Felder, Darryl L., & Earle, Sylvia A., eds. ''Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota, Volume 1: Biodiversity.'' Texas A&M University Press, 2009. 666.] at depths between 128 m and 402 m.
References
External links
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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ithycythara Cymella
cymella
Gastropods described in 1889