''Pseudodaphnella retellaria'' 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). . 3 ...

Description

The length of the shell attains 6 mm, its diameter 2.3 mm. (Original description) The small shell is lanceolate, subturreted and thin. Its colour is dull white, with a few brown spots on the shoulder, and the apex brown. It contains 8

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, including a

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 ...

of 3½ whorls. The sculpture is harsher on the earlier whorls. The radials are narrow, almost lamellate, ending abruptly at the shoulder and gradually on the base, slightly oblique, fourteen widely spaced 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 ...

and on the penultimate sixteen. These are crossed by spiral threads of smaller gauge, forming long narrow meshes, amounting to sixteen on the body whorl and to six on the penultimate. The fasciole is flat, only incised by crescentic growth lines. The aperture is ovate. The outer lip forms a small varix, ascending the previous whorl and enclosing a C-shaped sinus. The outer lip is dentate at the margin and tuberculate within. 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 wide. Hedley, C. 1922. A revision of the Australian Turridae. Records of the Australian Museum 13(6): 213-359, pls 42-56

Distribution

This marine species is endemic to Australia and occurs off Queensland; also off Papua New Guinea.

References

* Powell, A.W.B. 1966. ''The molluscan families Speightiidae and Turridae, an evaluation of the valid taxa, both Recent and fossil, with list of characteristic species.'' Bulletin of the Auckland Institute and Museum. Auckland, New Zealand 5: 1–184, pls 1–23 * Liu, J.Y. uiyu(ed.). (2008). ''Checklist of marine biota of China seas.'' China Science Press. 1267 pp.

External links

*
Brazier, J. 1876. ''A list of the Pleurotomidae collected during the Chevert expedition, with the description of the new species''. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 1: 151–162
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pseudodaphnella Retellaria retellaria Gastropods described in 1922 Gastropods of Australia