''Veprecula'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
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 ...
s, 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 ...
s 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
(Original description) This genus has been created by Melvill in 1917 for a series of deep-water species of ''Clathurella'' with several peculiarities.
The small, thin, delicate shell has a pale brown or white, fusiform
spire
A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...
, either very attenuate, or pagodiform, or broader, and ventricose, always much suturally impressed. The shell contains 10-12
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 with 4-5 whorlsin the
protoconch
A protoconch (meaning first or earliest or original shell) is an embryonic or larval shell which occurs in some classes of molluscs, e.g., the initial chamber of an ammonite or the larval shell of a gastropod. In older texts it is also called ...
. The first of these is smooth, the second to the fourth or fifth are very finely longitudinally radially costulate. The
remainder are either few or closely ribbed, crossed by frequent or more distant lirations, acutely echinate at the points of junction,
interstices appearing deeply seated, almost smooth, quadrate or oblong. The
aperture
In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane.
An opt ...
is oblong. The outer
lip is thin. The sinus is deep and wide, situated immediately below the suture. The siphonal canal is produced and fusiform.
Species
Species within the genus ''Veprecula'' include:
* ''
Veprecula arethusa''
(Dall, 1918)
* ''
Veprecula bandensis''
Sysoev, 1997
* ''
Veprecula brunonia''
(Dall, 1924)
* ''
Veprecula cooperi''
Mestayer, 1919
* ''
Veprecula crystallina''
Stahlschmidt, Chino & Kilburn, 2012
* ''
Veprecula echinulata''
(Thiele, 1925)
* ''
Veprecula gracilispira''
(Smith E. A., 1879)
* ''
Veprecula hedleyi''
(Melvill, 1904)
* ''
Veprecula pungens''
(Gould, 1860)
* ''
Veprecula scala
''Veprecula scala'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Raphitomidae.
Description
The length of the shell attains 5.5 mm, its diameter 2 mm.
(Original description) The slender, fusiform shell is excavate at the ...
''
Hedley, 1922
* ''
Veprecula sculpta''
(Hinds, 1843)
* ''
Veprecula spanionema''
(Melvill, 1917)
* ''
Veprecula sykesii''
(Melvill & Standen, 1903)
* ''
Veprecula tornipila''
McLean & Poorman, 1971
* ''
Veprecula vacillata''
Hedley, 1922
* ''
Veprecula vepratica''
(Hedley, 1903)
;Species brought into synonymy:
* ''Veprecula menecharmes''
Melvill, 1923: synonym of ''
Tritonoturris menecharmes
''Tritonoturris menecharmes'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Raphitomidae.
;Subspecies:
* ''Tritonoturris menecharmes albescens'' Melvill, 1923
Description
The length of the shell varies between 8 mm ...
''
(Melvill, 1923)
* ''Veprecula morra''
(Dall, 1881):
synonym of ''
Rimosodaphnella morra''
(Dall, 1881)
* ''Veprecula polyacantha''
Stahlschmidt, Chino & Kilburn, 2012: synonym of ''
Famelica polyacantha
''Famelica polyacantha'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Raphitomidae.MolluscaBase eds. (2023). MolluscaBase. Veprecula Melvill, 1917. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marines ...
''
(Stahlschmidt, Chino & Kilburn, 2012) (original combination)
* ''Veprecula reticulosa''
Smith, 1882: synonym of ''
Veprecula arethusa''
(Dall, 1918)
* ''Veprecula togetoges''
Nomura & Niino, 1940: synonym of ''
Veprecula arethusa''
(Dall, 1918)
References
* Bouchet P., Kantor Yu.I., Sysoev A. & Puillandre N. (2011)'' A new operational classification of the Conoidea''. Journal of Molluscan Studies 77: 273-308
External links
*
Worldwide Mollusc Species Data Base: Raphitomidae*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3717341
Raphitomidae
Gastropod genera