''Assiminea vulgaris'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), 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 ...

of minute

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class G ...

with an operculum, an aquatic 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 es ...

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 ...

Assimineidae Assimineidae is a family of minute snails, also known as palmleaf snails, with an operculum, gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the superfamily Rissoidae. Many of these very small snails live in intermediate habitats, being amphibious betwe ...

Description

The dental formula of the stenoglossan

radula The radula (, ; plural radulae or radulas) is an anatomical structure used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food ...

of ''Assiminea vulgaris'' is 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1. The central tooth has five cusps, and three denticles on each side, below. The inner lateral tooth has six cusps and the outer lateral tooth five. The marginal teeth show 15 pectinate cusps.

References

* Powell A. W. B., ''New Zealand Mollusca'', William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1979 Assimineidae Gastropods of New Zealand Gastropods described in 1905 {{Assimineidae-stub