''Pleurotomella pandionis'' 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

Raphitomidae Raphitomidae is a family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea.Bouchet P. & Rocroi J.-P. (Ed.) (2005). "Classification and nomenclator of gastropod families". ''Malacologia'' 47(1-2). . 39 ...

Description

The length of the shell attains 43 mm. (Original description) The large, thick shell is dull brownish yellow, with a very acute, elevated spire. It contains nine

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, very oblique, moderately convex, concave below the suture. The whole surface is covered with close lines of growth, which recede in a broad curve on the subsutural band. Numerous fine, unequal, raised, spiral lines cover the whole surface, except the subsutural band. The upper whorls are also crossed by sixteen to eighteen blunt, transverse ribs, about as broad as their interspaces, most elevated on the middle of the whorls, fading out above and below. The aperture is elongated and narrow. The sinus is broad and well marked, just below the suture. 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 and nearly straight. The operculum is absent.

Distribution

''P. pandionis'' can be found off the North American coastline, ranging from New Jersey south to Florida.Tunnell, John W., Jr., Felder, Darryl L., & Earle, Sylvia A., eds. ''Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota, Volume 1: Biodiversity.'' Texas A&M University Press, 2009. 668.

References

External links

*
Rosenberg, G.; Moretzsohn, F.; García, E. F. (2009). Gastropoda (Mollusca) of the Gulf of Mexico, Pp. 579–699 in: Felder, D.L. and D.K. Camp (eds.), Gulf of Mexico–Origins, Waters, and Biota. Texas A&M Press, College Station, Texas

Gastropods.com: ''Pleurotomella (Pleurotomella) pandionis''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pleurotomella Pandionis pandionis Gastropods described in 1880