''Kurtzia arteaga'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod

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 group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 Re ...

Description

The length of the shell attains 10.25 mm, its diameter 4 mm. (Original description) The small shell has an acute-fusiform shape. It contains about eight whorls. The initial

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 ...

is extremely minute, the subsequent whorls slowly enlarge and minutely reticulate. The later whorls have a strongly marked shoulder, and are, when young, of a reddish-brown colour, which gradually changes with exposure to a light grey. The

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 ...

of the adult whorls consists of (on the body whorl about ten) prominent, slightly arcuate, nearly axial ribs, rather sharply nodose at the intersection with the angle of the shoulder, with wider interspaces and continuous to the siphonal canal. As to the spiral sculpture of major and minor threads, there are about ten of the former in front of the shoulder, of which two are visible behind the suture on 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 a ...

; the remainder – which are much finer and minutely rugose – occupy the space of the whole surface, the major threads being slightly swollen where they cross the ribs. 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 ...

is narrow. The anal sinus is shallow and small. The

columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...

and the throat are brownish, with a brown band under the suture. The outer

lip The lips are the visible body part at the mouth of many animals, including humans. Lips are soft, movable, and serve as the opening for food intake and in the articulation of sound and speech. Human lips are a tactile sensory organ, and can be ...

is sharp between, and thickened at the varices. The siphonal canal is short. and wide. There is no operculum. Bartsch & Dall (1910), New species of shells collected by Mr. John Macoun of Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island; Series: Memoir / Geological Survey of Canada ; no. 14N

Distribution

This species occurs in the Pacific Ocean off

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

, Canada, to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, California, USA.

References

* McLean J.H. (1996). ''The Prosobranchia. In: Taxonomic Atlas of the Benthic Fauna of the Santa Maria Basin and Western Santa Barbara Channel. The Mollusca Part 2 – The Gastropoda''. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. volume 9: 1–160

External links

Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1–1295.
*
Bartsch, P, Some turrid mollusks of Monterey Bay and vicinity; Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, v. 57 pp. 57–68
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurtzia Arteaga arteaga Gastropods described in 1910