''Marita schoutenensis'' 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.Bouchet, P. (2017). Marita schoutenensis (May, 1901). In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=434390 on 2017-10-07

Description

The length of the shell attains 5.3 mm, its diameter 2.5 mm. The solid, yellowish white shell has a subfusiform shape. It contains 5 rounded

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, including a large

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 ...

of two rounded polished whorls. The other whorls are strongly ribbed by distant curved ribs, about 12 on the spire. 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 ...

they disappear above the middle. The whole shell is girt by numerous irregularly spaced impressed lines, which pass over the ribs. The aperture is elongate, oval, with no contraction for a

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 ...

. The outer lip is thin, curved, with a moderate sinus at the suture, which bends the ribs. The columella is straight.May, W.L. 1910. ''New marine Mollusca.'' Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 48: 380-398
(described as ''Mangilia schoutenensis'')

Distribution

This marine species is endemic to Australia and occurs off New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria.

References

* Tate, R. & May, W.L. 1901. ''A revised census of the marine Mollusca of Tasmania''. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 26(3): 344-471

External links

Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1-1295

''Marita schoutenensis''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q10326541 schoutenensis Gastropods described in 1901 Gastropods of Australia