''Margarella pruinosa'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 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 ...

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 ...

Calliostomatidae Calliostomatidae is a family of sea snails within the superfamily Trochoidea and the clade Vetigastropoda.Gofas, S. (2013). Calliostomatidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetail ...

.Rosenberg, G. (2012). ''Margarella pruinosa'' (Rochebrune & Mabille, 1885). Accessed through:

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific specialist ...

at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=533029 on 2012-12-07

Description

The shell grows to a height of 14 mm. The imperforate shell has a subglobose-conical shape. It is a little thick and solid. Its color is violaceous. It is ornamented with irregular oblique striae and decussated with evanescent lines, only visible under a lens. The turbinate

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 ...

is prominent. The minute, shining apex is subacute. The 5-6

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 are convex and regularly rapidly increasing. They are separated by impressed narrowly margined sutures. The 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 ...

is above sloping, then rounded. It is subcarinated at the periphery and at 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 ...

scarcely descending. The oblique, shining aperture is lunate, transversely oblong, and obscurely lirate inside. The acute peristome is simple. Its , margins are subparallel, the outer subsinuous, the basal arcuate, the columellar incurved. The twisted columella is incurved, a little thick, callous, forming an obtuse angle at the base, and emitting a thick, white, shining, slightly dilated callous closing the umbilicus, and bipartite by a longitudinal sulcus.Tryon (1889), Manual of Conchology XI, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
(described as''Protinula pruinosa'')

Distribution

This marine species occurs in the

Magellanic Straits The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pass ...

, Argentina.

References

External links

Rochebrune, A.-T. and J. Mabille. 1885. ''Diagnoses de mollusques nouveaux, recueillis par les membres de la mission du Cap Horn et M. Lebrun, Préparateur au Muséum, chargé d'une mission à Santa-Cruz de Patagonie''. Bulletin de la Société Philomathique de Paris (7)9: 100-111

To Encyclopedia of Life

To World Register of Marine Species
{{Commons category pruinosa Gastropods described in 1885