''Anarithma dorcas'' is a species of

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

, a marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Mitromorphidae Mitromorphidae is a monophyletic family of small to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the superfamily Conoidea Conoidea is a Taxonomic rank, superfamily of predatory sea snails, marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusc, mo ...

Description

The length of the shell varies between 15 mm and 28 mm.

Distribution

This marine species occurs off the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Reproduction

Mitromorpha dorcas is a type of sea snail that does not release its eggs and sperm into the water like many other marine animals. It is a non-broadcast spawner. Its life cycle also doesn't include the trochophore stage, which is the free-swimming early stage common among the marine creatures.

References

* Kuroda, T.; Habe, T.; Oyama, K. (1971). The Sea Shells of Sagami Bay. Maruzen Co., Tokyo. xix, 1–741 (Japanese text), 1–489 (English text), 1–51 (Index), pls 1–121 * Kosuge S. (1980) ''Description of new species of the genus Mitrella (Pyrenidae, Gastropoda).'' Bulletin of the Institute of Malacology, Tokyo 1(3): 46, pl. 9 * *

External links

* *

dorcas Dorcas (), or Tabitha (), was an early disciple (Christianity), disciple of Jesus mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (, see discussion Acts 9#The healing of Tabitha (9:36–43), here). She lived in the port city of Jaffa, Joppa, today absorb ...

Gastropods described in 1971 {{mitromorpha-stub