''Stellatoma mellissi'' 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 Mangeliidae.Rosenberg, G. (2010). Stellatoma mellissi (E. A. Smith, 1890). In: MolluscaBase (2017). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=533454 on 2018-01-25

Description

The adult shell grows to a length of 5 mm, its diameter 2 mm. The small shell is fusiform-ovate. It has a reddish color and a darker reddish color at the sutures. 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 ...

has a red band in the middle. The shell contains 6½

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. The 2½ protoconch whorls are convex and smooth. The third whorl is convex and is slightly obliquely lirate. The others have a broad sloping shoulder and a greatly rounded anterior portion. They show about 14 axial ribs. The spiral sculpture consists of 3 cords in the upperwhorls and 16-20 in the body whorl. The aperture is elongate-ovate, measuring about half the total length. The outer lip is marked by transverse striations and is incrassate with a strong denticle close to the posterior sinus. The microscopic structure of this species appears under the microscope to consist of numerous spiral series of very minute grain-like scales, which, at times, are arranged one under the other, so as to produce the appearance of a longitudinal series.Smith E.A. (1890). ''Report on the marine molluscan fauna of the island of St. Helena''. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1890: 247-317, pl. 21-24
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Distribution

This species is found in the Atlantic Ocean off

St. Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

References

External links

Bouchet P., Kantor Yu.I., Sysoev A. & Puillandre N. (2011) A new operational classification of the Conoidea. Journal of Molluscan Studies 77: 273-308.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q14390238 mellissi Gastropods described in 1890