''Oenopota subvitrea'' 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 ...
.
[Rosenberg, G. (2010). Oenopota subvitrea. In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=533203 on 2017-11-22]
Description
The length of the shell attains 13.5 mm.
(Original description) The white shell is translucent, thin but firm. It has a fusiform shape. The shell is moderately stout, with a high, regularly tapered, acute
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 ...
, consisting of about 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. These are crossed by rather thin, prominent ribs, strongly bent in a sigmoid curve, and having on the lower whorls rather faint 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 ...
. The four to five whorls below 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 ...
are strongly convex and a little swollen at the rounded shoulder, which is rarely somewhat angulated, and without a definite subsutural band. The suture is strongly impressed, the upper part of the whorl rising rather abruptly from it. The protoconch consists of about two small, prominent whorls. The first is small, rounded, slightly mamilliform, and a little prominent. The next, constitutes the greater part of the protoconch, increases rapidly and is decidedly prominent and somewhat obliquely placed, and bears about four or five raised, revolving lines, which are sometimes crossed by distinct lines of growth. The suture between the last whorl of the protoconch and the next is strongly marked and more oblique than any of the others. The remaining whorls are crossed by rather conspicuous, sharp, and rather elevated ribs, which are strongly excurved at and just above the shoulder, curving forward rapidly to the suture, and bending forward more gradually below the shoulder, forming a distinct sigmoid curve. The interspaces between the ribs are much wider than the ribs themselves, distinctly concave, and crossed by rather feeble cinguli, which are usually not apparent ou the ribs themselves. On the upper whorls the spiral lines are usually more conspicuous than on the lower ones, but are often indicated chiefly by rather close, shallow furrows. 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 ...
the ribs extend to the base of 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 ...
before they fade out, and the spiral sculpture becomes coarser and a little more evident on its anterior part and on the canal. The surface is also a little roughened by faint lines of growth, parallel with the ribs. 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 oblong-ovate and rather narrow. The thin outer
lip is sharp, projecting forward in the middle in a broadly rounded curve, and slightly receding just above the shoulder, so as to form a broad and shallow sinus a little removed from the suture. The siphonal canal is nearly straight, a little prolonged, distinctly constricted at its base by the incurvature of the outer lip. The
columella is straight, tapering anteriorly, its inner edge forming a well-marked sigmoid curve. The epidermis is indistinct. The color is translucent bluish white. The surface is not glossy.
Verrill, A. E. 1884. ''Second catalogue of Mollusca recently added to the fauna of the New England coast and the adjacent parts of the Atlantic, consisting mostly of deep-sea species, with notes on others previously recorded.'' Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences 6: 139–294, pls. 28–32.
Distribution
This marine species occurs off North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, USA
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oenopota Subvitrea
subvitrea
Gastropods described in 1884