''Marita inornata'' 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.WoRMS (2009). Marita inornata (G. B. Sowerby III, 1896). In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=434387 on 2017-10-06

Description

The length of the shell attains 8.5 mm, its diameter 3 mm. The white shell has a fusiform shape. The acuminate spire has a sharp apex. It contains seven

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, of which two in 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 ...

. The subsequent whorls are angulated. They are crossed by very obscure lirae and faintly discernible ribs, becoming obsolete 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 ...

. The body whorl shows many inconspicuous lirae. The aperture is oblong. The columella is straight. The outer lip is sharp and slightly sinuate below.Sowerby G.B. III. (1896). List of the Pleurotomidae of South Australia, with descriptions of some new species. Proceedings of the Malacological Society of London. 2(1): 24-32, pl. 3
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Distribution

This marine species is endemic to Australia and occurs off South Australia.

References

* Verco, J.C. 1909. ''Notes on South Australian marine Mollusca with descriptions of new species. Part XII.'' Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 33: 293-342

External links

Hedley C. 1922. ''A revision of the Australian Turridae''. Records of the Australian Museum 13(6): 213-359

Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1-1295.
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q10326538 inornata Gastropods described in 1896 Gastropods of Australia