''Vetulonia galapagana'' 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 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, unassigned in the

superfamily SUPERFAMILY is a database and search platform of structural and functional annotation for all proteins and genomes. It classifies amino acid sequences into known structural domains, especially into SCOP superfamilies. Domains are functional, str ...

Seguenzioidea.MolluscaBase (2018). ''Vetulonia galapagana'' Dall, 1913. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=871168 on 2018-12-28

Description

THe length of the shell attains 2.2 mm; its maximum diameter 3.4 mm. (Original description) The small, white shell consists of four moderately convex

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

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 ...

defective). The suture is distinct. The spiral sculpture between the sutures consists of seven or eight close-set flattish threads, crossed by (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 ...

) seventeen narrow, slightly elevated, laminate ribs which become obsolete toward the umbilicus on the base. The last rib forming the outer lip is markedly larger and thicker than its predecessors. The umbilicus is funicular, shallow and with no marginating rib, it does not penetrate the axis. The aperture is rounded and is interrupted by the body whorl. The outer lip reflected, thickened, but with a sharp edge. The operculum is unknown.MolluscaBase (2018). ''Vetulonia galapagana'' Dall, 1913. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=871168 on 2018-12-28

Distribution

This species occurs in Galapagos.

References

* Warén, A. & Bouchet, P. (1993). New records, species, genera, and a new family of gastropods from hydrothermal vents and hydrocarbon seeps. Zoologica Scripta. 22: 1-90 {{Taxonbar, from=Q49555545 galapagana Gastropods described in 1913