Type illustration accompanying the original description of Olivella barbenthos

''Olivella barbenthos'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of small

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 ...

, 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

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Olivellinae Olivellinae, are a subfamily of small predatory sea snails with smooth, shiny, elongated oval-shaped shells, in the family Olividae. The shells sometimes show muted but attractive colors, and may have some patterning.MolluscaBase eds. (2020). M ...

, 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 ...

Olividae Olive snails, also known as olive shells and olives, scientific name Olividae, are a taxonomic family of medium to large predatory sea snails with smooth, shiny, elongated oval-shaped shells.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2012). Olividae. Accessed thr ...

, the olives. Species in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Olivella Olivella is a municipality in Catalonia, in the province of Barcelona, Spain. It is situated in the comarca of Garraf. History The first known village in the area was founded in 992 around a castle known as ''Castell vell''. The inhabitants l ...

are commonly called dwarf olives.

Description

Original description: "Shell is medium-sized for the genus (6.2 - 8.6 mm.) with 6-7 whorls, stout, oval and short spired. Suture narrow and deep. A part of the ventral side of the shell is covered with thickened callus. Protoconch small. The columella has two series of plicae, an upper and a lower one. The upper series consists of 3-5 plicae, the lower of 4-5. The ground colour is white. The shell has an interrupted band around the middle of the body whorl, which is sometimes vague on lighter coloured specimens. The body whorl is covered with light to dark brown longitudinal waves. Darker specimens have a purple band around the body whorl just below the suture. This band is white on lighter coloured shells, which are more frequent. A light to dark brown fasciolar band is present. Holotype: Measurements: height 7.2 mm. and width 3.7 mm. Preserved in the type collection of the Zoologisch Museum, Amsterdam (ZMA Moll. 3.088. 037)." Original description -pdf file: http://www.olivirv.myspecies.info/sites/olivirv.myspecies.info/files/1989_-_recourt_-_a_new_olivella_from_the_barbados_west_indies_lr.pdf

Etymology

Derivatio nominis: The name ''barbenthos'' is a contraction of two words -
a geographic name,

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

, and the Ancient Greek word for depth,

Benthos Benthos (), also known as benthon, is the community of organisms that live on, in, or near the bottom of a sea, river, lake, or stream, also known as the benthic zone.barbenthos Molluscs described in 1989 {{Olividae-stub