''Oenopota maclaini'' 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 ...

.Bouchet, P. (2010). Oenopota maclaini (Dall, 1902). In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=531008 on 2017-11-16

Description

The length of this rare shell attains , its diameter . The single specimen obtained is not fully mature and the species doubtless attains a somewhat larger size. (Original description) The small shell is yellowish white with five or more

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

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 ...

is tilted, smooth, flat above, with the margin of the plane forming a strong carina which is continued as a spiral thread at the shoulder in the subsequent whorls. The first whorl which follows the protoconch has two spiral threads. The number of these gradually increases until the fifth whorl has thirteen, closer in front of the suture and behind the shoulder and also on the base of the shell. They are less crowded on the peripheir, and crossing (on the fifth whorl twenty) arcuate, regular, slightly elevated ribs with subequal interspaces which extend over the periphery and fade out on the base. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

is longer than 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 ...

. The short

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 ...

is straight or slightly recurved. The columella is straight and obliquely truncate in front. The

periostracum The periostracum ( ) is a thin, organic coating (or "skin") that is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including molluscs and brachiopods. Among molluscs, it is primarily seen in snails and clams, i.e. in gastropods and ...

is yellowish.Dall (1902) Illustrations and descriptions of new, unfigured or imperfectly known shells; Proceedings of the United States National Museum, v. 24 (1902)

Distribution

This marine species occurs off the Baffin Bay,

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

References

* Bouchet P. & Warén A. (1985). ''Revision of the Northeast Atlantic bathyal and abyssal Neogastropoda excluding Turridae (Mollusca, Gastropoda).'' Bollettino Malacologico Suppl. 1: 121–296

External links

Proceedings of the United States National Museum, Vol. 66, 1926
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oenopota Maclaini maclaini Gastropods described in 1902