''Lissospira'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 ...

marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

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 ...

s 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 ...

Skeneidae The Skeneidae are a speciose family of minute to small marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Trochoidea.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2013). Skeneidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php ...

Description

This genus was proposed for a group of deepwater species which had been erroneously referred to ''

Cyclostrema ''Cyclostrema'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Liotiidae. ''Cyclostrema'' is a neuter word, but many authors have considered it feminine, including Captain Marryat himself. A complete revision of the famil ...

''. They are small, thin, of rather delicate texture (with the exception of '' Lissospira rarinota''), opaque white, and slightly lustrous. Their shell consists of few convex

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 forming an elevated

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 ...

, with a relatively large, prominent nuclear whorl and a large

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 suture is deep. The umbilicus is small, deep, and does not show any whorls. 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 ...

is somewhat oblique, circular with a slight sutural angle, and not modified by the body whorl to which the simple, continuous peritreme is but slightly attached. The aperture often has an indistinct thread just within the inner lip, fading out above and below, so that it extends but about halfway round the aperture. It is much nearer the edge along the columellar margin than at the ends and is evidently to prevent the thin operculum being drawn in too far. The operculum is circular, thin, of a delicate horn color, with a central nucleus. It has about seven whorls, defined by a distinct spiral thread, often showing delicate, microscopic transverse growth lines. The

radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...

consists of numerous rows of delicate teeth. Each row hasone broad central, or median tooth, with a broad, blunt, delicately serrate, curved tip and on either side four more slender lateral teeth also with blunt, curved, delicately serrate tips, beyond which is a series of numerous, between 30 and 50, long, very slender, somewhat sickle-shaped hooks sometimes with delicately serrate tips.

Species

Species within the genus ''Lissospira'' include: * '' Lissospira abyssicola'' Bush, 1897 * '' Lissospira bushae'' (Dall, 1927) * '' Lissospira chalossensis'' Lozouet, 1999 * '' Lissospira conica'' (Dall, 1927) * '' Lissospira convexa'' Bush, 1897 * ''

Lissospira dalli ''Lissospira dalli'' is a small species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Skeneidae.Rosenberg, G. (2012). ''Lissospira dalli'' (A. E. Verrill, 1882). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespe ...

'' (''A. E. Verrill, 1882) * '' Lissospira depressa'' (Dall, 1927) * '' Lissospira grata'' Thiele, 1925 * '' Lissospira larva'' Lozouet, 1999 * '' Lissospira ornata'' (A. E. Verrill, 1884) * '' Lissospira proxima'' Tryon, 1888 * '' Lissospira rarinota'' Bush, 1897 * '' Lissospira striata'' Bush, 1897 * '' Lissospira valvata'' (Dall, 1927) ; Species brought into synonymy : * ''Lissospira basistriata'' (Jeffreys, J.G., 1877): synonym of ''

Skenea basistriata ''Skenea basistriata'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Skeneidae. Description The length of the shell varies between 1.2 mm and 4 mm. The smooth, shining shell is narrowly umbilicated. It contains 4 ...

'' (Jeffreys, J.G., 1877) * ''Lissospira bithynoides'' (Jeffreys, 1883): synonym of '' Lissomphalia bithynoides'' (Monterosato, 1880) * ''Lissospira bujnitzkii'' (Gorbunov, 1946): synonym of '' Leptogyra bujnitzkii'' (Gorbunov, 1946) (new combination) * ''Lissospira ossiansarsi'' Warén, A., 1991: synonym of ''

Skenea ossiansarsi ''Skenea ossiansarsi'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Skeneidae The Skeneidae are a speciose family of minute to small marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Trochoidea.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2013) ...

'' Warén, 1991 * '' Lissospira profunda'' (Friele, 1879): synonym of ''

Skenea profunda ''Skenea profunda'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Skeneidae. A marine nematode ''Endeolophos skeneae'' (family Chromadoridae) is epibiotically associated with ''Skenea profunda''Endeolophos skeneae sp nov ( ...

'' (Friele, 1879) * ''Lissospira turgida'' (Odhner, 1912): synonym of ''

Skenea turgida ''Skenea turgida'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Skeneidae The Skeneidae are a speciose family of minute to small marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Trochoidea.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2013). Sk ...

'' (Odhner, 1912)

References

{{Commonscat Skeneidae Gastropod genera