''Ithycythara lanceolata'', common name the spear mangelia, 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 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 ...

Mangeliidae Mangeliidae is a monophyletic family of small to medium-sized, predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. Bouchet, P. (2011). Mangeliidae P. Fischer, 1883. In: MolluscaBase (2016). Accessed through: World Regis ...

Description

The length of the shell varies between 4 mm and 20 mm. (Original description) The shell is very long and has a lanceolate shape. It is brownish, more or less tinged with purple, with fine spiral lines of white and of dark brown, which are more conspicuous on the ribs; with a darker and wider brown line along the suture. The longitudinal

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 ...

consists of six very prominent acute transverse ribs on each

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 ...

, which are nearly or quite continuous on the successive whorls. There is a spiral elevated line, on the middle of the whorls, which is obsolete in the intercostal spaces and has nodtdous intersections with the ribs. The

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 ...

is acute. 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 ...

shows rectilinear outlines. The shell contains 8 whorls, scarcely convex, with a lightly impressed suture. The outer lip is finely denticulate within. The sinus is shallow. 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 not very short.

Distribution

''I. lanceolata'' can be found in Atlantic waters, ranging from the eastern coast of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

south to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

.;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. in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

, the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

and the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc betwe ...

Habitat

Depth range based on 5 specimens in 1 taxon. Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 1 sample. Environmental ranges Depth range (m): 2.75 – 18 Temperature range (°C): 23.720 – 23.720 Nitrate (umol/L): 0.501 – 0.501 Salinity (PPS): 36.080 – 36.080 Oxygen (mL/L): 4.807 – 4.807 Phosphate (umol/L): 0.100 – 0.100 Silicate (umol/L): 0.805 – 0.805

References

* Paulmier G. (2019). Le genre Ithycythara (Conoidea, Mangeliinae) aux Antilles françaises. Description de 4 nouvelles espèces. Xenophora Taxonomy. 25: 3-10. page(s): 8, figs 24-27

External links

Reeve L.A. (1846). Monograph of the genus Mangelia. In: Conchologia Iconica, or, illustrations of the shells of molluscous animals, vol. 3, pl. 1-8 and unpaginated text. L. Reeve & Co., London

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.
*
Specimen at MNHN, Paris
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ithycythara Lanceolata lanceolata Gastropods described in 1850