''Punctulum wyvillethomsoni'' is a
species of minute
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
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
* Marine habitats
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* ...
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 or
micromollusk
A micromollusk is a shelled mollusk which is extremely small, even at full adult size. The word is usually, but not exclusively, applied to marine mollusks, although in addition, numerous species of land snails and freshwater mollusks also ...
in the
family Rissoidae
Rissoidae is a large family of very small and minute sea snails with an operculum, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Rissooidea and the order Littorinimorpha.
Distribution and habitat
This family of snails is found worldwide. They ...
.
[Rosenberg, G.; Bouchet, P. (2012). Punctulum wyvillethomsoni. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=423708 on 2012-07-25]
Distribution
This species occurs in European waters and in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean.
Description
The maximum recorded
shell length is 3.8 mm.
[Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". '' PLoS ONE'' 5(1): e8776. .]
Habitat
Minimum recorded depth is 95 m.
Maximum recorded depth is 300 m.
References
* Abbott, R.T. (1974). ''American Seashells''. 2nd ed. Van Nostrand Reinhold: New York, NY (USA). 663 pp.
* Mayhew, R. and F. Cole. 1994 MS. ''A taxonomic discussion and update of shell-bearing marine molluscs recorded from NW Atlantic North of Cape Cod (excluding Greenland), and Canadian Arctic Archipeligo''.
* Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca, in: Costello, M.J. et al. (Ed.) (2001). ''European register of marine species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification''. Collection Patrimoines Naturels, 50: pp. 180–213
Rissoidae
Gastropods described in 1877
{{Rissoidae-stub