''Simnialena uniplicata'',
common name the one-tooth simnia, 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 ...
of
sea snail, a marine
gastropod 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 group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Ovulidae
Ovulidae, common names the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries, is a family of small to large predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and the cowry allies. MolluscaBase eds. (20 ...
, the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries.
It lives on the sea whip, ''
Leptogorgia virgulata''.
Description
The shell of is shiny and smooth, and the shape of an elongated egg, with a flat base which shows a long, narrow, slit-like aperture. The shell grows to 2 cm long and the coil of the typical gastropod shell is not visible. The colour varies from ivory white to pink. The maximum recorded
shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
length is 21 mm.
[Welch J. J. (2010). "The "Island Rule" and Deep-Sea Gastropods: Re-Examining the Evidence". '' PLOS One'' 5(1): e8776. .]
Distribution
''Simnialena uniplicata'' occurs in shallow water on the eastern coast of the United States, Colombia, Jamaica and Brazil.
[''Simnialena uniplicata'']
Gastropods.com. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
Minimum recorded depth is 0 m.
Maximum recorded depth is 116 m.
Ecology
''Simnialena uniplicata'' has a
symbiotic relationship with the sea whip ''Leptogorgia virgulata'' on which it lives. The snail's white colour is derived from the pigments it absorbs and which it incorporates into its shell after eating debris from the coral.
References
Ovulidae
Gastropods described in 1849
{{Ovulidae-stub