''Skenea proxima'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

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 Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Skeneidae The Skeneidae are a speciose family of minute to small marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Trochoidea.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2013). Skeneidae. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php ...

.Rosenberg, G. (2012). ''Skenea proxima'' (Tryon, 1888). Accessed through:

World Register of Marine Species The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scientific specialist ...

at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=532304 on 2012-09-01 The name ''Cyclostrema proxima'' was introduced by G.W. Tryon as a replacement name for ''Cyclostrema affine'' Verrill, 1884 (now recognized as a synonym of ''

Skenea basistriata ''Skenea basistriata'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Skeneidae. Description The length of the shell varies between 1.2 mm and 4 mm. The smooth, shining shell is narrowly umbilicated. It contains 4 ...

'' (Jeffreys, 1877)), while he thought it was closely related to ''Cyclostrema basistriata'' Brugnone. Anders Warén thought it would probably prove a synonym of '' Skenea diaphana''.

W.H. Dall William Healey Dall (August 21, 1845 – March 27, 1927) was an American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska. He described many mollusks of the Pacific Northwest of America, and w ...

thought it a synonym of ''

Skenea trochoides ''Skenea trochoides'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Skeneidae. G.W. Tryon thought this species was a synonym of ''Cyclostrema peterseni'' Frielle, 1877 (now a synonym of '' Skenea peterseni'' (Friele, 18 ...

''.

Description

The size of the shell attains 2.2 mm. The shell is narrowly umbilicated, faintly striate, with a few indistinct spiral lines below the suture, and numerous well defined ones on the base. Around the umbilicus the inferior striae become stronger. The surface of the shell is smooth and greyish white. The suture is impressed. The

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 are very convex and rapidly increasing. The thin periphery is round and slightly in contact.G.W. Tryon (1888), Manual of Conchology X; Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
(described as ''Cyclostrema proxima'')

Distribution

This species occurs in the Atlantic Ocean off

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, USA, at depths between 538 m and 1542 m.

References

* Verrill, A. E. 1884. ''Second catalogue of Mollusca recently added to the fauna of the New England coast and the adjacent parts of the Atlantic, consisting mostly of deep-sea species, with notes on others previously recorded''. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences 6: 139–294, pls. 28-32

External links

Encyclopedia of Life

World Register of Marine Species
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7534601 proxima Gastropods described in 1888