''Platycythara curta'' 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 is 2.3 m, its diameter 1.5 mm.
(Original description) The small, short, solid, inflated shell has a brownish color,. The minute
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 smooth. It is succeeded by about three subsequent strongly sculptured
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 axial
sculpture consists of (on the penultimate whorl about 15) narrow, sharp, similar riblets with wider interspace. This sculpture extends over the base. The spiral sculpture consists of (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 ...
about 16) even regular similar threads with subequal interspaces which pass over but do not nodulate the ribs. The
aperture is narrow. The outer
lip is thickened, crenulate by the sculpture and not reflected. 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 shallow but conspicuous. The columellar lip is smooth. The
columella shows a layer of enamel with a raised edge. 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 ...
is short, deep, but hardly differentiated.
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 Pacific Panama.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Platycythara Curta
curta
The Curta is a hand-held mechanical calculator designed by Curt Herzstark. It is known for its extremely compact design: a small cylinder that fits in the palm of the hand. It was affectionately known as the "pepper grinder" or "peppermill ...
Gastropods described in 1919