''Taranis moerchii'' 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 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 ...

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). . 39 ...

Description

The length of the shell varies between 2 mm and 4 mm. The two specimens from station 2077, in 1255 fathoms, are somewhat stouter than those previously obtained, and have the principal carina, forming the shoulder, larger and more prominent than usual, but it bears only very minute tubercles, corresponding to the very fine and close riblets which cross the wide and abruptly sloping subsutural band obliquely, and are about twice as numerous and much finer than in the ordinary variety. 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 ...

there are about six prominent, distant, revolving cinguli below the shoulder, besides some faint ones on the base of 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 ...

. The space between the uppermost of these and the shoulder-carina is greater than usual. The lines of growth are much finer than in the ordinary form and do not take the appearance of riblets on the body whorl, nor do they render the cinguli nodulous. The suture is sharply impressed, and the raised revolving line usually present just below the suture is absent. This form, therefore, is characterized by the relative predominance of the spiral

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

over the transverse, and by the absence of distinct nodules at the crossing of the two systems of lines.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(1): 139-294, pl. 28-32
/ref> (described as ''Taranis moerchii'' var. ''tornata'')

Distribution

This marine species occurs off the

Faroes The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway betw ...

;

Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...

to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

References

* Malm, A.W. (1861). Raekke af Fiske, Krebsdyr og Bløddyr, som ere nye for den skandinaviske Fauna, og meddeelte de nedenanførte Bemaerkninger om disse Arter. Forhandlinger ved de Skandinaviske Naturforskeres, 8: 616–624. Forhandlinger ved de Skandinaviske Naturforskeres. 8: 616-624 * Brugnone, G.A. (1862) Memoria sopra alcuni pleurotomi fossili dei dintorni di Palermo. F. Lao, Palermo, 41 pp., 1 pl. * Sturany R. (1896). Zoologische Ergebnisse VII. Mollusken I (Prosobranchier und Opisthobranchier; Scaphopoden; Lamellibranchier) gesammelt von S.M. Schiff "Pola" 1890-1894. Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematische-Naturwissenschaftlischen Classe, 63: 1-36, pl.1-2 * Gofas, S.; Le Renard, J.; Bouchet, P. (2001). Mollusca. in: Costello, M.J. et al. (eds), European Register of Marine Species: a check-list of the marine species in Europe and a bibliography of guides to their identification. Patrimoines Naturels. 50: 180-213.

External links

Biolib.cz : ''Taranis moerchii''

Gastropods.com: ''Taranis moerchii''
*
Tiberi, N. (1868). ''Nova Mediterranea testacea''. Journal de Conchyliologie. 16: 179-180

Locard A. (1897-1898). Expéditions scientifiques du Travailleur et du Talisman pendant les années 1880, 1881, 1882 et 1883. Mollusques testacés. Paris, Masson. vol. 1 [1897], p. 1-516 pl. 1-22; vol. 2 [1898], p. 1-515, pl. 1-18

Census of Marine Life (2012). SYNDEEP: Towards a first global synthesis of biodiversity, biogeography and ecosystem function in the deep sea. Unpublished data (datasetID: 20)

Dyntaxa. (2013). Swedish Taxonomic Database.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taranis Moerchii moerchii Gastropods described in 1861