''Marsenina stearnsii'' is a
species of small
slug
Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a smal ...
-like
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 ...
mollusc
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 esti ...
in the family
Velutinidae.
Description
The size of an adult shell varies between . The thin, translucent white shell is visible through a dorsal pore in the mantle. The finely pitted mantle is white to pale pink with darker spots.
Distribution
This white slug-like
snail is known from
Alaska and central
California.
[“Marsenina stearnsii - Lamellarian on Flickr - Photo Sharing!.” Web. 1 Jan 2010. https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcduck/3197098221/#comment72157612587108572] It can be found in the rocky
intertidal, often in association with the
ascidian ''
Trididemnum opacum''.
[“Trididemnum opacum with Lamellaria stearnsii on Flickr - Photo Sharing!.” Web. 1 Jan 2010. https://www.flickr.com/photos/top_down/1459465867/] It is relatively rare, found in the low rocky intertidal, usually under rocks on the ascidian ''Trididemnem opacum'' which it matches in color and pattern and upon which it preys.
Intertidal Invertebrates of the Monterey Bay Area, California
/ref>
References
* Turgeon, D.; Quinn, J.F.; Bogan, A.E.; Coan, E.V.; Hochberg, F.G.; Lyons, W.G.; Mikkelsen, P.M.; Neves, R.J.; Roper, C.F.E.; Rosenberg, G.; Roth, B.; Scheltema, A.; Thompson, F.G.; Vecchione, M.; Williams, J.D. (1998). ''Common and scientific names of aquatic invertebrates from the United States and Canada: mollusks. 2nd ed.'' American Fisheries Society Special Publication, 26. American Fisheries Society: Bethesda, MD (USA). . IX, 526 + cd-rom pp.
ITIS info, authority and date
External links
*
Velutinidae
Gastropods described in 1871
{{Velutinidae-stub