''Notocytharella phaethusa'' 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 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 ...

Mangeliidae Mangeliidae is a monophyletic family of small to medium-sized, predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea. Bouchet, P. (2011). Mangeliidae P. Fischer, 1883. In: MolluscaBase (2016). Accessed through: World Regis ...

.WoRMS (2009). Notocytharella phaethusa (Dall, 1919). In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=434497 on 2017-10-24

Description

The length of the shell attains 5 mm, its diameter 1.25 mm. (Original description) The minute shell has a very small turbinate brown

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 about 2

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, the latter part of which is feebly reticulately sculptured. It is followed by 3subsequent whorls;. The suture is distinct, not appressed. The whorls are moderately rounded. Their color is whitish with a pinkish brown banded base. The spiral

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

consists of (on the first whorl one, on the second two) peripheral strong threads, 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 ...

four with much wider striated interspaces. These threads on dead specimens show paler than the general surface. On the base and the

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 ...

are about a dozen smaller close-set threads. None of the thread are nodulose where they cross the ribs. The axial sculpture consists of (on the body whorl eight) narrow sigmoid ribs, with wider interspaces, extending from suture to siphonal canal across the body whorl. 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 narrow. >The outer lip is varicose, and smooth within. The inner lip is simple and not callous. The

anal sulcus The anal sulcus, also called the anal sinus or anal canal, in Gastropods is a notch, a shelly tube at the top of the aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and fo ...

is large and shallow. The columella is straight. The siphonal canal is hardly differentiated. Many of the specimens have the body whorl conspicuously striped with brown. The dead specimens are often slaty with pale spiral threads. There is also some variation in stoutness and in the strength of the posterior thread which in a few specimens is stronger than the others giving a slight shoulder to the whorl.Dall (1919) Descriptions of new species of Mollusca from the North Pacific Ocean; Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum, vol. 56 (1920)

Distribution

This marine species occurs off

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, Mexico.

References

External links

Tucker, J.K. 2004 ''Catalog of recent and fossil turrids (Mollusca: Gastropoda)''. Zootaxa 682:1-1295.
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q10337701

phaethusa In Greek mythology, Phaethusa or Phaëthusa ( grc, Φαέθουσα ''Phaéthousa'', "radiance") was a daughter of Helios and Neaera, the personification of the brilliant, blinding rays of the sun.Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Ausführliches ...

Gastropods described in 1919