''Oenopota harpa'' 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.

Description

The length of the shell varies between 8.5 mm and 32 mm. (Original description) The moderately thin shell has a fusiform shape. It contains six, 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. The suture is distinct. The sculpture consistis of (on the body whorl) 23 stout, uniform, slightly flexuous rounded ribs extending from the suture to 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 ...

with slightly narrower interspaces. The lines of increase are distinct, sometimes threadlike. These a re crossed by numerous close-set spiral threads, separated by narrow grooves, both faint near the suture. The threads grow stronger, regularly wider, and coarser gradually toward the siphonal canal, near which they are stronger than the obsolete ends of the transverse ribs. The anal fasciole (notch band) is indistinct. The aperture is narrow, elongated with an acute posterior angle. The outer lip is thin. The columella is simple. The siphonal canal is rather wide. The shell is whitish, with a reddish tinge anteriorly, especially on the body whorl. The interior of the aperture is reddish, of the siphonal canal pure white.W.H. Dall, New or specially interesting shells of the Point Barrow Expedition; Proceedings of the United States National Museum vol. 7, 1884
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Distribution

This marine species occurs off Arctic Russia, in the Sea of Okhotsk and off Alaska and south to Queen Charlotte Sound, British Columbia.

References

* Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). ''European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification''. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oenopota Harpa

harpa ''Harpa'', common name the "harp snails", is a genus of large predatory sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Harpidae.Gofas, S.; Bouchet, P. (2015). Harpa Röding, 1798. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of ...

Gastropods described in 1885