''Pseudotaranis hyperia'' 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

Pseudomelatomidae Pseudomelatomidae is a family of predatory sea snails, marine gastropods included in the superfamily Conoidea (previously Conacea) and part of the Neogastropoda ( Bouchet & Rocroi, 2005). In 1995 Kantor elevated the subfamily Pseudomelatomina ...

, the turrids and allies.

Description

Height of five whorls, 12 mm; of body whorl, 7 mm; diameter of decollation, 1.7 mm.; of body whorl, 4.5 mm. (Original description) The shell contains more than six hardly 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 (decollate). These are white, with a dark olive

periostracum The periostracum ( ) is a thin, organic coating (or "skin") that is the outermost layer of the shell of many shelled animals, including molluscs and brachiopods. Among molluscs, it is primarily seen in snails and clams, i.e. in gastropods and ...

, the base white. The suture is appressed, distinct, the whorl in front of it is constricted. 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 ...

) a sharp thread or low keel above the periphery, two more at the periphery. On the anterior one the suture is laid and it also forms the anterior boundary of the dark coloration. On the base are about five less conspicuous threads; all these have much wider interspaces. The axial sculpture consists of moderately conspicuous incremental lines. 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 wide and extremely shallow, the deepest portion at the posterior keel. There is no well-defined fascicle. The aperture is short and wide. The outer lip is thin, only slightly produced in front of the sulcus. The inner lip is erased. The columella is very short. 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 very short and wide, but distinct, slightly recurved and with an inconspicuous siphonal fasciole. 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 California, USA.

References

* McLean J.H. (1996). ''The Prosobranchia. In: Taxonomic Atlas of the Benthic Fauna of the Santa Maria Basin and Western Santa Barbara Channel. The Mollusca Part 2 – The Gastropoda''. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. volume 9: 1-160

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pseudotaranis Hyperia

hyperia Hyperia may stand for: * ''Hyperia'' (crustacean), a genus of the order Amphipoda * The ancient Greek name for the island of Amorgos * In Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally ...

Gastropods described in 1919